By extending the authorisation for lignite extraction at the Turów mine for six years without carrying out an environmental impact assessment, Poland has breached European Union law: this was the ruling of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in an Opinion published on Thursday 3 February (Case C-121/21).
This Opinion follows an appeal made by the Czech Republic on the grounds that the mine’s activities cause environmental damage on its territory (see EUROPE 12724/24).
In the Opinion that he published, the Advocate General notes that for mining operations of a similar size to the Turów mine, “it is imperative that they are subject to an environmental impact assessment”, since they “inherently present a risk of significant environmental impact”.
He also noted that the European Directive (2011/92) on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA Directive) “is not limited to imposing a requirement to carry out an environmental impact assessment when the initial authorisation for a project is granted, but also applies to certain decisions relating to it”.
The six-year extension of a mining permit therefore “constitutes a project that requires an environmental impact assessment”, said the Advocate General.
He also concluded that Polish provisions exempting mining operations from the obligation to undergo an “impact assessment”, without due consideration of their potential environmental impact, “must be deemed incompatible with the requirements of the EIA Directive”.
Furthermore, he is of the opinion that the Polish legislation violates procedural requirements for environmental impact assessments.
While the Court’s final judgment on this case will be handed down at a later date, it should be noted that the CJEU has already ordered Poland to pay a daily penalty payment of €500,000 to the European Commission for failing to comply with its order to cease the mine’s activities (see EUROPE 12794/1).
Agreement between Warsaw and Prague
Coincidentally, the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, had reached an agreement on the Turów mine with his Czech counterpart, Petr Fiala, on the day the Opinion of the Advocate General was published.
Under the agreement, Poland will pay the Czech authorities €45 million in compensation for damage caused by the mine, according to reports from Reuters news agency.
In return, Prague will withdraw its complaint to the CJEU.
See the Opinion of the Advocate General (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/5z (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)