The relationship between Poland and the European Union (EU), of which the country is a member, already frayed over the last year, soured even more this Tuesday (8). The European Commission has announced that it will deduct from the funds of the Eastern European nation a €15 million fine acquired in the last year.
The amount was imposed after the government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki ignored a ruling by the EU Court of Justice that ordered the closure of a coal mine in Turow, on the border with the Czech Republic, due to the negative impact of the project on the environment and for public health.
The European court, the main court of the bloc and with which Poland has already created arguments, saying that the decisions taken there violated national legislation and, therefore, did not need to be complied with, established a daily fine of €500,000 (R$ 3 million). on the 20th of September.
The amount that will be withdrawn from Polish funds represents the accumulated debt until October 19, according to Balazs Ujvari, a spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, told the AFP news agency. The measure will take effect in the next 10 days.
The Commission limited itself to saying that, with the fine deducted from Poland’s European funds, it would be fulfilling the legal obligations to collect the financial penalties imposed — and ignored — by the country. This is an unprecedented decision in the bloc, according to AFP.
The EU’s decision comes shortly after the Polish government, dominated by the conservative nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, tried to forge an understanding with Prague to ease the crisis. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala met last week and reached an agreement on the matter.
Under the terms of the document, Warsaw will pay Prague €45 million in compensation and fund measures aimed at preventing the mine from adversely affecting the lives of those living on the Czech side of the border. The Morawiecki government has also committed to taking measures to protect nearby municipalities from noise and light pollution attributed to the Turow mine.
Poland said it hoped that the Czech Republic would then withdraw its complaints to the EU Court of Justice and that “the problem would no longer exist”. The open pit mine powers a power station responsible for generating around 7% of Polish electricity.
The country depends on coal to produce about 80% of its energy demand, although it has committed to investing in clean sources and closing the last mine in 2049, following bigger goals outlined by the EU. The Czech Republic and Germany, which borders the two countries, have complained about the consequences that the Turow mine could have on local underground aquifers.
At the time, the EU Court of Justice said Poland violated EU environmental law by extending the mine’s life to 2026 without carrying out an environmental impact assessment and by failing to notify those directly affected by the project that the mine would continue to be used.
The Polish action runs counter to public efforts by the EU, which last year launched an ambitious plan against pollution, which includes banning combustion cars by 2035.
