The European Commission had the right to deduct a fine of 68.5 million euros (290 million PLN) for failing to halt work at the Turów mine following a complaint by the Czech Republic, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Wednesday (May 29), after reviewing the request for annulment submitted by Poland's previous government led by the Law and Justice party.
The General Court of the Court of Justice of the EU stated on Wednesday that the European Commission had the right to deduct fines because Poland did not halt work at the Turów mine in accordance with the CJEU decision. The ruling is not final. Poland can appeal it within two months and 10 days.
The previous Polish government, led by the United Right coalition, had asked the EU General Court (the lower instance) the annul the fines.
The Polish side argued that the European Commission did not have the right to deduct the debt resulting from the unpaid fines, because Poland had reached an agreement with the Czech Republic.
The government in Prague had lodged a complaint against Poland regarding the expansion and extension of the lignite mining license at the Turów open-pit mine.
Request for annulment
The CJEU had imposed the fine on Poland in connection with the failure to implement a so-called interim measure - a safeguard applied by the judges, under which Poland should have halted the mine's work while the Czech complaint was being reviewed.
The EU court decided that Poland had to pay 0.5 million euros daily for non-compliance with its decision. The Polish government refused to pay the fines.
The European Commission then decided to deduct the debt from various EU funds due to Poland in five installments. A total of 68.5 million euros was deducted for the period from September 20, 2021, to February 3, 2022.
The PiS government believed that the settlement reached with Prague, under which the Czechs withdrew their complaint from the CJEU in February 2022, should have retroactively nullified the financial consequences of the measures ordered by the court.
Therefore, Poland said it considered the deduction of the fines unlawful.
The General Court rejected this argumentation in Wednesday's ruling. It said that "the removal of the case from the register does not relieve Poland of the obligation to settle the amount payable in respect of the periodic penalty payment".
"Otherwise, the objective of the periodic penalty payment, namely to guarantee the effective application of EU law, such application being an essential component of the rule of law, would not be attained," the judges stressed in the ruling.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Shutterstock