Poland would see its €2 billion share of the EU’s Just Transition Fund cut in half under a new EU budget proposal published on Friday (14 February), which penalises countries that have not signed up to the bloc’s 2050 ‘climate-neutrality’ goal.

European Council President Charles Michel’s attempt at brokering an EU budget compromise includes fresh conditions for the fledgling €7.5bn-strong Just Transition Fund (JTF), which still needs to be approved by EU member states.

The European Commission unveiled the Fund last month as part of its wider Just Transition Mechanism, a €100bn package of grants and investments that is designed to help countries enact stricter climate policies and deal with the impacts of going green, according to Euractiv.com.

Michel’s tweaked version of the EU’s seven-year budget, known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF), proposes a slight increase in the EU budget – from 1.067% to 1.074% of the bloc’s GDP.

The difference amounts to exactly €7.5bn, according to Valérie Hayer, a French lawmaker from the centrist Renew Europe group who is part of the European Parliament’s budget negotiating.