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Under the Decision of 7 December 2007 European Commission approved the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment 2007-2013. It is a culmination of many months of work on preparing the largest programme in the history of the European Union. The amount of EU funds involved in its implementation is more than EUR 28 billion, which constitutes approx. 42 % of all funds for the Cohesion Policy in Poland.

Within the framework of the programme, large infrastructural investments are implemented within the scope of environmental protection, transport, power industry, culture, national heritage, health care, and higher education.


Objective of the Programme

Programme aims at the improvement of Poland and its regions’ investment attractiveness through the development of technical infrastructure at the same time protecting and improving the condition of environment, health, maintaining cultural identity and developing territorial cohesion. In accordance with National Strategic Reference Framework (NRSF) approved by the European Commission on 7 May 2007, the programme constitutes one of the operational programmes which are the basic tool to achieve goals set in them using the financial means from Cohesion Fund and European Regional Development Fund. Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment is also an important instrument of implementing the Lisbon Strategy, and the expenditures for EU priority objectives amount to 67.89 % of all expenditures from EU funds within the framework of the programme.


Present shape of the Programme

The total amount of financial means allocated for implementation of the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment 2007-2013 is EUR 37.7 billion, including EU contribution – EUR 28.3 billion and the national one – EUR 9.4 billion.

The distribution of EU funds available within Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment between separate sectors presents itself as follows:

• transport – EUR 19.6 billion
• environment – EUR 5.1 billion
• energy (power industry) – EUR 1.7 billion
• higher education – EUR 586.5 million
• culture – EUR 533.6 million
• health – EUR 395.5 million

Additionally, funds for technical assistance have been envisaged for Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment (total amount: EUR 581.3 million). 

Under the programme 15 priorities are implemented:

1. Water and sewage management – EUR 3697.4 million (including EUR 3142.8 million from CF);
2. Waste management and the protection of Earth - EUR 1208.1 million (including EUR 1026.9 million from CF);
3. Resource management and counteracting environmental risks - EUR 655.0 million (including EUR 556.8 million from CF);
4. Initiatives aimed at adjusting enterprises to the requirements of environment protection - EUR 834.4 million (including EUR 250.0 million from NRSF);
5. Environment protection and promotion of ecological habits - EUR 105.6 million (including EUR 89.9 million from NRSF);
6. TEN-T road and air transport network - EUR 10596.3 million (including EUR 8843.2 million from CF);
7. Environment-friendly transport - EUR 11589.5 million (including EUR 7676.0 million from CF);
8. Transport safety and national transport networks - EUR 3596.1 million (including EUR 3056.7 million from NRSF);
9. Environment-friendly energy infrastructure and energy efficiency - EUR 1403.0 million (including EUR 748.0 million from CF);
10. Energy security including diversification of the energy sources - EUR 1693.2 million (including EUR 974.3 million from NRSF);
11. Culture and cultural heritage - EUR 651.3 million (including EUR 553.6 million from NRSF);
12. Health security and improving the efficiency of healthcare system - EUR 465.6 million (including EUR 395.7 million from NRSF);
13. Infrastructure of higher education - EUR 690.0 million (including EUR 586.5 million from NRSF);
14. Technical assistance - European Regional Development Fund - EUR 52.1 million (including EUR 44.3 million from NRSF);
15. Technical Assistance – Cohesion Fund - EUR 462.9 million (including EUR 393.5 million from CF).

These bodies will be responsible for implementation of particular priorities of the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment (Intermediate Bodies):

• Ministry of Environment (priorities I-V);
• Ministry of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy (priorities VI- VIII);
• Ministry of Economy (priorities IX-X);
• Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (priority XI);
• Ministry of Health (priority XII);
• Ministry of Science and Higher Education (priority XIII).

How was Infrastructure and Environment Programme prepared?

Works on Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment started in January 2006. Inter-ministerial working groups appointed for this purpose were developing goals and assumptions in particular areas of support of European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund. As a result of working groups’ recommendations, the Ministry of Regional Development prepared programme text, which was accepted by the Council of Ministers on 1 August 2006 and was directed to public consultations.  

Wide scope of public consultations related to Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment begun in September 2006, and ended in October 2006. During this process consultation was carried out also in relation with the project of the environmental impact forecast regarding Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment.

External evaluation of the operational programme project was conducted, analysing the degree in which the programme corresponds with actual socio-economic problems and external cohesion (other documents and strategies) as well as interior cohesion of the programme.

As a result of these consultations and evaluations many postulates and proposals of social and economic environment, voivodeship self-governments and socio-economic partners were taken into account   

29 November 2006 was another stage, when modified Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment was approved by the Council of Ministers and in such form submitted to the European Commission for the purpose of negotiations.  

How were the negotiations with the European Commission conducted?

Negotiations of Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment lasted from May to September 2007. Directorate General for Regional Policy conducted negotiations on the part of the Commission of the European Union. But opinions and comments on the programme could have been put forward also by other directorates under the so called “inter-ministerial consultations”. Polish side was represented by the members of Minsters of: Environment, Transport, Maritime Economy, Economy, Culture and National Heritage, Health, Science and Higher Education and other bodies, which were involved in preparation process of Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment. Negotiations comprised two official negotiation rounds, during which the parties presented their positions and many meetings of technical character, during which the discrepancies between the positions were clarified and effort was made to work out compromise solutions.

Ex-ante evaluation and environmental impact assessment

On the basis of ex-ante evaluation of operational programme Infrastructure and Environment project, strategic environmental impact assessment (SEIA) and the course of public consultations (ten conferences in which 1.700 people participated) changes were made in the project directionally approved by the Council of Ministers on 1 August of current year, inter alia:

• allocation of EU funds for the Programme has been increased by EUR 6573 million,
• two priorities were added, “Infrastructure of higher education” and “Competitiveness of regions”,
• the scope of III priority axis has been reformulated in relation with postulates of ecological organisations, and currently the emphasis is placed on small retention, hence large investments in hydro-technical equipment will be supported only in justified cases.

Programme management

Managing Authority of Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment is the minster competent for regional development, who performs his functions with the help of the Department for Coordination of Infrastructural Programmes and the Department of Support for Infrastructural Programmes in the Ministry of Regional Development. Managing Authority will pass on the implementation of the part of its projects to Intermediate Bodies.


Expected outcomes of the programme

• nine thousand kilometres of sanitary sewage system, resulting in 810 thousand people connected to the network;
• 318 waste water treatment plants;
• 20 new supra-regional waste management plants;
• 5.5 million people will be additionally covered by municipal waste management system;
• level of waste storage will decrease from 79% to 50%;
• 400 small retention facilities;
• 500 stations for analysing and reacting to threats of natural disasters;
• 135 large enterprises supported within the scope of environmental management systems;
• 1550 ha, to which protection of a proper ecosystem condition has been restored;
• 477 kilometres of constructed motorways in TEN-T network;
• 1400 kilometres of constructed major ways in TEN-T network;
• 8 reconstructed airports in TEN-T network;
• 1250 kilometres of modernized railway lines;
• 410 kilometres of constructed rail and trolleybus transport network;
• 270 kilometres of modernized water roads;
• the share of electric power generated from renewable sources in gross electric power consumption should increase from 2% to 7.5%;
• 1 million tonnes of annual production of bio fuels;
• 1000 kilometres of newly constructed transmission pipelines and 4900 kilometres of gas distribution pipelines;
• 600 kilometres of constructed electricity transmission networks;
• 14 facilities of cultural heritage under protection;
• 600 ambulances purchased for the needs of medical rescue;
• 100 reconstructed and refitted health care centres;
• 120 modernised higher education facilities;
• 6 thousand jobs.