Poland’s resistance has slowed ratification of the European Union’s (EU) deal on minimum corporate income tax and 18 billion euros in aid to Ukraine, diplomats revealed on Thursday.
The 27 EU countries reached a complex deal on Monday that greenlights both aid to Ukraine and a minimum corporate income tax of 15%.
The deal includes a compromise with Hungary and the release of frozen EU funding for Budapest. The agreement was supposed to be formally approved on Wednesday evening, but objections from Warsaw prevented its implementation.
Poland has objections to the minimum corporate income tax, but Warsaw has stressed it is not against EU aid to Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Moraveckis has said linking Ukraine’s aid to the minimum corporate income tax is blackmail.
Poland is trying to convince the EU that it has made enough progress on reforms and is entitled to billions of euros in financial aid to help the economy recover from the pandemic.
For this reason, Poland has previously rejected the introduction of a minimum corporate income tax, but Warsaw appears to have withdrawn its objections several months ago.
