Over EUR 50 bln for Polish energy sector transition in EU budget - PM

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has announced that Poland will receive billions of euros in EU funding to help transform its energy sector.

"The funds for the transition of the Polish energy sector will reach around PLN 230 billion (EUR 51 billion)," Morawiecki said after the end of the EU summit in Brussels on Friday.

The Polish prime minister told reporters that the Polish side wanted to achieve a good deal under which "Poland will have funds for a just climate transition carried out at its own pace, and for an economic transition since climate transition is followed by economic change."

Morawiecki added that "for the first time, the European Commission has admitted that what is needed here is a system which will make chances equal, chances for Polish businessmen to be competitive."

European Union leaders reached a hard-fought deal on Friday to cut the bloc's net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of the decade. The previous goal envisaged the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990 levels.

"Europe is the leader in the fight against climate change," tweeted EU Council president Charles Michel. "We decided to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030."