Polish-Czech consultations
They took place on Wednesday in Prague Polish-Czech intergovernmental consultations under the leadership prime ministers: Donald Tusk and Petro Fiala. During a joint press conference, the heads of government were asked about the Turów power plant issue.
The Czech Prime Minister said that during the meeting it was agreed that Poland would provide data regarding Turów, which the Czech Republic had already requested. Prime Minister Tusk confirmed that PGE would soon provide complete information to the Czech side.
The case of “misunderstandings and unnecessary politics”
Tusk called the Turów issue a matter of “misunderstandings and unnecessary politics.”
He declared that Poland would defend Turów because “it is our energy source.” However, he assured that this cannot be done at the environmental expense of people living on the Czech side.
Prime Minister Fiala said that the problem in “fundamental issues” was resolved at the beginning of his term of office, when an agreement was signed on this matter – in accordance with the agreement, the Polish side completed, among others, a groundwater barrier that should prevent further outflow from the Czech territory.
Turów Thermal Power Plant
The Turów coal-fired thermal power plant is located in Bogatynia, at the junction of the borders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Polish-Czech talks regarding the Turów lignite mine began in June 2021 after the Czech side filed a complaint against Poland with the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the expansion of the mine. At the same time, Prague demanded the suspension of mining in the mine, as the so-called interim measure. The Czech side claimed that the expansion of the mine threatens the access of the inhabitants of Liberec, Czech Republic, to water; They also allegedly complained about noise and dust related to the mine’s operations.
Penalties from the CJEU
On September 20, 2021, the CJEU imposed a fine of PLN 500,000 on Poland. euro per day for failure to implement the interim measure and failure to discontinue lignite extraction in the mine. The Polish government then refused to pay the fine.
Therefore, the EC decided to offset the debt against various funds available to Poland from the EU in five tranches. In total, for the period from September 20, 2021 to February 3, 2022, the fines of EUR 68.5 million.
The then PiS government believed that the conclusion of the settlement, under which the Czechs withdrew their complaint to the CJEU in February 2022, meant that the financial consequences of the measures ordered by the Court should cease with retroactive effect. Therefore, in the opinion of the then authorities, the deduction of these penalties was illegal, as emphasized in the complaint to the CJEU.
The Tribunal at the end of May this year he rejected such an argument. It found that the withdrawal of the complaint by the Czech Republic and the removal of the case from the CJEU register did not release Poland from the obligation to pay the amount due as a penalty. “Otherwise, the purpose of this penalty, which is to ensure the effective application of EU law, which is inextricably linked to the value of the rule of law, would not be achieved,” the judges emphasized in the judgment. (PAP)
