The European Commission is moving to the next stage in order to make Poland pay fine imposed on the country for not shutting down its lignite mine in Turów, located at the border with the Czech Republic. Now, as the deadline for Poland to pay the first tranche of the fine has passed, the EU executive begins to identify from which EU funds to deduct the money owed by Poland - TVN24 correspondent in Brussels Maciej Sokołowski learned on Wednesday.
Maciej Sokołowski found out that EU officials "are now analysing exactly from which funds for Poland to deduct 15 million euros plus interest". "The decision will be made withing a few days, and once it's been sent to Poland, the Polish government will have 10 days to respond, and after that time the money will be deducted from funds earmarked for Poland," he explained.
The Czech Republic says mining leads to loss of underground water and causes other pollution, and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ordered Poland to pay a daily penalty of 500,000 euros ($566,700.00) to the European Commission for not halting operations at the mine.
The overall penalty Poland is expected to pay for Turów mine functioning has already amounted to 60 million euro and counting.
If the Czech government agrees to terms for resolving a dispute over the Turów lignite mine, it will withdraw its complaint to the European Union's top court, a Polish minister said on Wednesday, striking an upbeat note about the latest round of talks.
The two European Union neighbours have been locked in a dispute over Poland's extension of mining at Turów, which feeds an adjacent power plant important to Polish energy supply.
"If the agreement is successfully signed ... the Czech side will immediately send information to the court that the dispute has been resolved and withdraw their complaint," environment Minister Anna Moskwa told public broadcaster Polskie Radio 1.
Moskwa met newly appointed Czech environment minister Anna Hubackova in Warsaw on Tuesday. The ministers said that terms which had been discussed now had to be approved by the Czech government.
"Yesterday's meeting certainly produced more than the 18 earlier meetings with the previous government, not only in terms of atmosphere... but also in terms of specific arrangements," Moskwa said.
She said Poland was willing to sign up to the discussed terms immediately if the Czech government agrees to them.
Neither side has given any details on what the agreement might look like.
Warsaw and Prague have been in dispute about the length of the agreement, with Poland suggesting it may be ended after two years, which the Czech side said was unacceptable giving the mine's planned lifespan of over two decades.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Andrzej Stefańczyk/TVN24