Poland’s dispute with the Czech Republic over the Turów mine in Bogatynia ended at the beginning of February. Poland Poland undertook to pay the Czech side €45 million in compensation and is also to build an underground barrier near the mine. The money has been paid, the Czechs withdrew their complaint, but this is not the end of the problems.
In the Turów case, Poland is to pay the penalty imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The United Right government does not intend to pay it and has announced an appeal. The European Commission is not backing down and says that if the penalty is not paid, it will deduct the money from EU funds paid to Poland. So far, Poland has received payment demands totalling €30 million. This concerns two periods: September 20, 2021 – October 19, 2021, and October 20, 2021 – November 18, 2021.
Prime Minister of the Government Mateusz Morawiecki spoke about the penalties. As we read on money.pl:
- We are preparing an appeal procedure so that we do not pay anything in this case – Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday when asked about the penalties concerning Turów in the context of the EC’s decision. We want to use all possible legal avenues to appeal against these penalties – he added. He also said that Poland had been treated like a “guinea pig”.
On September 20, 2021, the Court of Justice of the EU imposed a €500,000 daily penalty on Poland for failing to implement the interim measure and failing to stop lignite extraction at the mine.