An amendment has been approved by the European Commission that allows a budget increase of an existing Polish agriculture scheme by €266 million.

The scheme was created to support Polish farmers and agricultural producers in the context of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The amendments were approved under the state aid temporary crisis and transition framework adopted by the commission on March 9, 2023.

The adoption of the framework, according to the commission, is "to support measures in sectors which are key to accelerate the green transition and reduce fuel dependencies".

The commission approved the original scheme on June 5, 2023. Under the scheme, the aid consists of limited amounts of support in the form of subsidised interest rates on loans.

Poland notified the following modifications to the existing scheme:

An overall budget increase by €266 million;
The extension of the period covered by the subsidy of interest rate on bank loans granted to an agricultural producer before December 31, 2023, from 36 months to 60 months;
The inclusion of the possibility of applying a grace period for the repayment of capital, at the request of the agricultural producer and with the consent of the bank.

The commission concluded that the amendments to the scheme were necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a member state, in line with the treaty on the functioning of the EU and the conditions set out in the temporary crisis and transition framework.

On this basis, the commission approved the amendments under EU state aid rules.

The new framework amends the temporary crisis framework, that was adopted on March 23, 2022 to enable member states to support the economy in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and saw further amendments on July 20, 2022 and on October 28, 2022.