Although the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ordered Poland to make a daily penalty payment of €500 000 to the European Commission for refusing to stop lignite mining activities at the Turów mine (see EUROPE 12794/1), the country has not yet made any payments, despite a call for payment being sent on 10 November, the Commission confirmed on Thursday 13 January.
As the 45-day deadline for this call for payment had passed, the Commission then sent Poland a reminder letter on 1 January, with a deadline of 15 days from receipt. If, after this deadline, the Polish authorities have still not made the payment, the institution will deduct the sum mentioned in the first call for payment from the funds the country is due to receive from the EU budget, a Commission spokesperson said.
“There is an inevitability to the fact that, when the Court of Justice has issued a fine to a Member State, that money will one way or another be paid to the EU budget”, added chief spokesperson Eric Mamer.
Czech Republic reaches out to Poland
For its part, the Czech Republic is ready to start talks with Poland next week to overcome their dispute over the Turów mine, located near the border between the two countries, the new Czech Minister of the Environment, Anna Hubackova, announced on Thursday. “I am prepared to go to Poland, to Warsaw, with an offer of an agreement, or signed contract, or for talks for closing a deal”, Hubackova was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Although the CJEU has already ordered Poland to make a daily penalty payment, it has not yet given its final judgment on the main issue of the case (C-121/21) between Poland and the Czech Republic. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)