The Vice-President of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued an order on Friday 21 May requiring Warsaw to immediately cease lignite mining activities at the Polish Turów mine near the Czech and German borders.
This order follows a request from the Czech Republic. On 26 February 2021, the country brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations before the CJEU on the grounds that Poland had violated EU law by allowing lignite extraction at the Turów mine until 2026 (Case C-121/21).
This decision was based on a Polish law of 2008 according to which the validity of a lignite mining concession can be extended once for a period of six years without any environmental impact assessment, when this extension is motivated by rational management of the deposit without extending the scope of the concession.
Fearing adverse environmental consequences, Prague has also asked the CJEU to order Poland to immediately cease lignite extraction activities at the mine pending the Court’s final judgement.
On Friday, the Vice-President of the Court found that the legislation may breach the requirements of the EU Water Directive (2000/60), which requires that the extension of a surface mining project be subject to an environmental impact assessment or at least a prior check on the need for such an assessment.
In her view, there is actually an urgent need, as the continuation of lignite mining activities in the mine until the final judgement is announced is likely to have negative effects on the level of groundwater in the Czech territory.
It should be noted that the Court will give its final judgment on the merits of this case at a later date. The Vice-President’s order does not prejudge the outcome of the main action.
See the order (French only): https://bit.ly/3oCZDMD (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)