EC representative not authorized to vote. The government responds to the allegations

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As Wasik underlined, “in addition to vision and courage, EU funds are also needed, in this case 1.3 billion zlotys”. “And I wanted to remind you of this at today’s opening, but against previous agreements with the Ministry of Infrastructure I was not allowed to vote. Long live Europe,” he tweeted.

Twitter shared Member of Parliament Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz. “An incredible scandal! Even though the tunnel in Zakopianka was half built with EU funds, it was the EC representative who was unable to speak today. The EU flags have already been removed, will they now remove the signs informing about funding? Only the Eurodiets somehow leave “-he wrote.

We have asked the Ministry of Infrastructure to refer the matter. As reported by the resort, during the event the flags of the European Union were displayed, and the Minister of Infrastructure in his speech informed that the investment was financed with national funds with the support of European funds.

Indeed, at the end of his speech, Minister Andrzej Adamczyk mentioned in one word the EU funds that supported the construction of the tunnel. The Union’s role in its message, however, has been severely limited and emphasis has been placed on it “government decisions to increase the financing of necessary, important, necessary investments expected by generations – among others by the State Road Development Fund and the National Road Fund.

In its response, the Ministry of Infrastructure highlighted that guests included, among others, the director of the European Commission’s regional office in Wroclaw.

A quote from his statement, as well as information on the co-financing of the assignment from EU funds, was included in press materials related to this event, which were sent to journalists after its completion. This information was also reported in the press release published on the MI website.

The ministry added that at the entrance to the S7 section of the Lubień-Rabka Zdrój motorway there are panels informing about EU funding for this section. “In every communication regarding this investment, published by the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Directorate General for National Roads and Highways and the Center for Community Transport Projects, there is also a relevant mention. The public is therefore adequately informed about the support, received by GDDKiA for the implementation of this investment from EU funds.

MI further noted that “in view of the previously unconfirmed presence of a large number of senior government officials, including secretaries of state, due to the need to conduct the ceremony effectively, it was considered to give the floor to three speakers immediately before its beginning”. “Extending their number to the deputy ministers and directors-representatives of GDDKiA, CUPT and EC present at the ceremony would lead to an excessive prolongation of the ceremony” – it reads.

We recall that the speech of the ceremony, in addition to Minister Adamczyk, was also attended by the president of the PiS Jarosław Kaczyński, as well as the archbishop of Krakow, mgr. Marek Jedraszewski.

We recall that the stretch of the S7 highway on which there is a tunnel, it was built with EU funding amounting to almost €303.6 million, which represents more than half of the investment.

The two-kilometer tunnel under the Luboń Mały mountain on section S7 is the longest such structure in Poland in non-urban areas. It is part of the major project “Construction of the S7 expressway, section Lubień-Rabka” of the Infrastructure and Environment 2014-2020 programme, adopted by the European Commission on December 7, 2017. The value of the co-financing by the EU Cohesion Fund is almost 303.6 million euros, which is more than half of the investment costs of 567.5 million euros, informs the European Commission.

The tunnel started on March 6, 2017. The first tunnel was drilled in October 2019 and the parallel one in April 2020. The construction cost of the tunnel alone is almost 1 billion zlotys.

The section of road S7 from Lubień to Rabka is to be a two-lane carriageway with a length of 15.83 km, with two traffic lanes and an emergency lane on both sides of the dividing lane. The road also includes three ramps, which will have three lanes per carriageway, and a 2km tunnel. This investment is part of the TEN-T trans-European transport network, the development of which is a key priority for the EU. The S7 road is part of the European route E77, which runs from Pskov in Russia to the Hungarian capital, Budapest. The E77 road connects a number of major urban centres, including Gdansk, Warsaw and Krakow.