Courtesy of the European Commission

The European Union has sent a warning to countries which in its opinion may not meet the common fiscal criteria for 2012. Poland was among the five countries which received the warning.

European officials worry that Poland's ballooning national debt could mean it won't be able to fulfill the criteria, Rzeczpospolita reported. This is despite a raft of planned reforms to the Polish tax and social security system that were announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk last Friday to help cut the deficit.

The EU's warning “was a shock, like a bucket of cold water,” an unnamed source close to the Polish prime minister told reporters.

Warsaw says the government will continue to implement its plan to cut the deficit and lower the level of debt relative to the country's gross domestic product. Officials also promise to bring in tighter controls over spending, a move that was applauded by credit-ratings agencies.

Still, not everyone is happy with Warsaw's promises. EU Commissioner Olli Rehn says Poland remains in a position where its deficit is simply too high: this year, it's slated to fall from 7.9 to 5.6 percent of GDP. In 2012, which is expected to be a difficult year for the global economy, analysts worry that Poland will have a tough time slashing the deficit below 3 percent of GDP, as the EU requires.

But the prime minister says it's exactly because of the tough upcoming year that safeguards are being put into place. “We'll do everything we can to reduce the public finance deficit to acceptable levels,” said a Polish official.

Poland A.M.