Poland and the Czech Republic are finalising an agreement that should end a legal dispute over the environmental impact of a Polish open pit coal mine close to the border between the two countries, a Polish government spokesman said on Tuesday (May 25).
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said earlier the Czech government had agreed to withdraw its lawsuit over the Turów mine, only for his Czech counterpart Andrej Babis to say Prague was continuing with the legal case.
"The lawsuit stands," Babis said on Tuesday morning, adding the bilateral agreement would be signed after the Polish government discusses it.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller wrote on Twitter that the framework of the agreement was established and that the Czech Republic would withdraw its complaint when the final agreement is signed.
"As a result of this plan, we will be able to say that the whole matter is closed and the power plant and the mine will continue to work," Morawiecki said.
On Friday (May 21), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ordered Poland to immediately stop mining at the site operated by Polish state-run company PGE, pending a final decision in the case brought by the Czechs.
The Czech government had argued a planned expansion of the mine was environmentally damaging for communities on its side of the border, and that Warsaw had violated EU law by extending mining at Turów until 2026.
Environmental groups and Czechs living close to the border had complained drinking water supplies had been affected by the mine and that they had suffered from noise, dust and subsidence.
Poland said it would finance projects which would help to prevent the loss of groundwater and also build screens to stop dust particles.
The two countries would also set up a committee of experts to determine the environmental impact of the mine.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters