Sejm committees rejected PiS's amendments to the SAFE program

On Thursday, the Parliamentary Finance and National Defense Committees issued a negative opinion on the amendments submitted by PiS to the draft law implementing the SAFE program. The Sejm will vote on the bill on Friday morning.

During Thursday's joint meeting of the public finance and national defense committees, MPs considered the amendments submitted earlier in the day. Law and Justice MPs submitted a total of 13 amendments, although some of them – at the attention of the Sejm's legislative office – were voted on together.

The changes proposed by PiS were a response to doubts about the shape of the project expressed by opposition representatives, but also by the presidential side, although – as announced by representatives of President Karol Nawrocki – work on the amendments by the Chancellery of the President and the National Security Bureau is ongoing.

The doubts concern primarily the issue of transparency of spending funds from SAFE, as well as fears that the EU program may be used in the future as an element of political pressure on Poland. According to right-wing politicians, the KPO fund and the so-called related to it have already been used in this way. milestones.

MP Andrzej Śliwka (PiS) demanded, among other things, the introduction of a provision “preventing the European Commission from conducting an arbitrary policy of conditionality.” Another amendment provided for the introduction of the principle of the government reporting to the Sejm on the use of SAFE funds.

Another change proposed by PiS in the project was the introduction of provisions guaranteeing that funds from the EU program would not consume funds from the Armed Forces Support Fund, which currently finances many Polish arms contracts.

The PiS club also wanted the project to ensure that 89% of the funds from SAFE will go to the Polish arms industry, and also that the implemented program should be based solely on the Armed Forces Development Program developed every few years. However, the government argued that if the project was based solely on this document, it would have to abandon, for example, the San anti-drone program, which – as emphasized by the deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense, Paweł Bejda – results from an urgent operational need.

The joint committees issued negative opinions on all PiS amendments submitted. Voting on them and the entire project will take place in the Sejm during the Friday voting block.

The SAFE program provides for low-interest loans that will enable member states to quickly invest in their own defense, primarily through the purchase of military equipment from European manufacturers. Poland is to be the largest beneficiary of the program – it is to receive approximately EUR 43.7 billion from the pool of EUR 150 billion (this is the amount of funds to be included in the program).

Government representatives emphasize that the quick adoption of the act is crucial, because the signing of the loan agreement and payment of the first tranche of funds in the amount of 15% are planned for mid-March. the entire amount. This money is to go to the Financial Instrument for Enhancing Security SAFE – a fund to be established under the act being processed. The money that will go to the fund for projects related to strengthening security will be available primarily to the Minister of Defense, but also to the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the Ministry of Infrastructure. (PAP)

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