The Czech Republic has withdrawn from “European institutions” a complaint against Poland over the environmental impact of a Turów lignite mine, Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has said.
Turów mine must operate: Polish gov’t
”The Council of Ministers has adopted a resolution in which it emphasises that the Turów mine and power plant must operate,” said Polish Prime…
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The statement follows the Thursday agreement between Poland and the Czech Republic on the facility in Turów which ended a months-long dispute.
Drawn-out dispute
Last year, the Czechs complained to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) about the environmental impact of the Turów mine, which lies close to Poland’s border with the Czech Republic and Germany, arguing that the mine depletes groundwater levels on the Czech side as well as produces excessive dust and noise.
Under the long-awaited deal reached on Thursday, the Polish government agreed to pay the Czech Republic EUR 35 mln in compensation, while the Polish power plant PGE, which owns the Turow mine, said it would transfer EUR 10 mln to the Czech Liberec province, which has been most affected by the operation of the mine.
The lignite mine in Turów, Poland. Photo: PAP/Aleksander Koźmiński
“We transferred the funds already yesterday,” PM Morawiecki said at a press conference in Nowa Sarzyna, south-eastern Poland, adding that the government managed to beat the starting amount in the negotiations which stood at EUR 55 mln in total.
Menacing fines
However, the total costs of the dispute for Poland may not end there. In September 2021, the CJEU imposed a daily fine of EUR 500,000 on Warsaw for failing to suspend operations at the mine, but the Polish government has refused to close the mine and to pay up.
However, the prime minister said Poland was going to use “all available ways of appeal so that it doesn’t have to pay this extremely unjust penalty.”
This was reiterated by Paweł Jabłoński, a Polish deputy foreign minister, who said on Friday that “today the issue has been resolved in a way that is satisfactory for both sides and we’ll be taking measures so that Poland doesn’t have to pay those fines.”