EU financing and innovation in Poland

By Dan Breznitz and Darius Ornston

Since the collapse of communism, Poland has distinguished itself as one of the best performing economies in the European Union. However, the recent deceleration in growth has raised concerns about a “middle income trap”. Poland ranks among the lowest in the European Union on various measures of innovation, and its innovation system is relatively weak. In this context, the injection of EU funds focused on novel product R&D by private firms is a valuable opportunity. The main fear is that this EU-funded “innovation tsunami” may have negative side effects as well. Accordingly, we offer some policy recommendations under the constraints of an already agreed upon EU programme.