The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the European Commission was justified in deducting €68.5 million from Poland’s European Union funds for failing to stop extraction at the Turów lignite coal mine.
The legal dispute over the Turów mine, located in southwestern Poland near the borders with Germany and Czechia, began in 2020 with the filing of complaints to the EC claiming mining at the site was depleting groundwater levels in nearby Czech border communities.
In May 2021, the ECJ issued an injunction that required Poland to cease operations at the mine. The Conservative (PiS) then-government, though, refused to comply, citing energy security concerns because of the importance of the plant to Poland’s energy mix.
In response, the EU’s top court imposed a penalty of €500,000 per day for every day Poland remained in violation of the ECJ ruling.
Poland and Czechia reached a bilateral agreement on the issue in February 2022 and Prague withdrew its complaint. The EC, though, maintained that fines accrued before the settlement was reached remained payable and deducted the amount it claimed was due from Poland’s EU funds.
The present centre-left government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which enjoys good relations with the EC, has appealed against the EC decision, arguing for retroactive cancellation of the financial penalties.
It seemed the Tusk government would be successful when the Advocate General of the ECJ, Juliane Kokott, in July last year issued an opinion in which she argued that, since the matter between Poland and Czechia had been settled, the penalties should be nullified.
The ECJ in its ruling, though, rejected Poland’s case and stated that the fines cannot either be amended or annulled retroactively.
“The actions of the parties to the dispute, including the conclusion of a settlement agreement, cannot have the effect of retroactively varying, annulling or setting aside an order imposing such a periodic penalty payment,” the court said.
It added: “By ensuring that EU law is complied with, it also retains a preventive, rather than punitive, character, contrary to what Poland claimed.”
The Turów complex, which includes a power plant and is a major local employer, continues to play an important role in Poland’s energy mix. It generates between 5 per cent and 7 per cent of the country’s electricity, supplying power to about 3 million households.
When asked for comment, the Tusk government’s press service blamed the previous government for the court defeat.
“The court ruling issued by the ECJ is final. We must remind that it was the previous PiS government which failed to resolve the matter before the Czech government took it to the ECJ,” the service stated.
“The present government therefore is not responsible for the outcome of this conflict, although we defended the action in order to try and retrieve the money deducted by the EC.”
The actions by the Tusk government since coming to power, though, suggest it was less willing to defend Turów than its predecessor.
While the former PiS-led government extended the lignite mining concession at Turów until 2044, the present administration is signalling that a much earlier exit, likely between 2030 and 2035, is inevitable, given the rising costs of CO₂ emissions and the expansion of renewable energy alternatives.
In December last year the Tusk government unveiled a new energy strategy aimed at phasing out coal by 2040. That prioritises nuclear power generation and renewables, with gas serving as a transitional fuel over the coming decade.
The PiS opposition taunted the Tusk over the ECJ verdict. “We were told he never loses in the EU,” said Anna Zalewska MEP.
She was referring to Tusk’s comments last year when he told the European Parliament: “Be assured, no one outplays me inside the EU.”
