The European Commission has approved a €300 million program for Poland to support workers who will lose their jobs due to the closure of coal mines and power plants.
The program will be valid for 10 years – until February 2034, after which Poland will be able to request its extension, the European Commission website says.
It is noted that the support will be provided in the form of a one-year severance pay received by those employees who are fired not on their own initiative. Employees will be able to receive it instead of the severance pay provided for in current collective bargaining agreements.
Also, employees who have less than four years left before retirement may be granted a paid vacation.
The European Commission noted that, in addition to mitigating the social consequences of the closure of coal mines and power plants, the program has a stimulating effect. After all, it facilitates public approval of reforms in the energy and industry sectors, and
“This €300 million scheme will support workers who will lose their jobs due to the imminent closure of coal and lignite-fired power stations and lignite mines in Poland. This shows that the European Commission is committed to an ecological transition that will not leave anyone behind," said European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Margret Vestager.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that in 2023, Poland entered the TOP-5 countries that resist the green transition.
As EcoPoliticspreviously reported, in 2022 the Minister of State Property of Poland, Jacek Sasin, said that the country is forced to postpone the closure of coal mines, however, their final date of operation – 2049 – will remain unchanged.
