Polish government must pay 68,5 million euros in fines, EU has ruled

Translated by Alessandra Fumagalli 

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has upheld the decision by the Europea Commission to levy 68,5 million euros in fines imposed on Poland for failing to comply an CJEU order to suspend operations at the Turów coal mine. For the first time, EU executive arm said it would divert millions in grants to a member country to cover unpaid fines, escalation a confrontations despite jitters over Ukraine. In doing so, the court rejected a complained filed by the former Polish government, which argued that the Commission had acted unlawfully in taking the money after Poland had reached a settlement with the Czech Republic that ended the dispute over the mine.

The Czech Republic brought the case against Poland in 2021. It claimed that Warsaw’s decision to extend the operation of Turów, an open-cast lignite mine near Czech border, was contrar to EU law and would cause environmental damage in the Czech Republic. As an interim measure, the CJEU order the mine to suspend operations for the duration of the court proceedings. Poland refused to comply, arguing that the continued operation of the mine and the nearby power plant, which produced 7% of Poland’s electricity, was crucial for energy security. As a consequence, in September 2021 the CJEU ordered Poland to begin paying daily fines of 500,000 euros until it complied. Poland refused to pay those fines, leading the European Commission to deduct the money, 68,5 million euros in total, from Poland’s EU funds.

In 2022, after reaching an agreement with the Czech Republic to end the dispute over the mine, Poland made a complaint against the European Commission’s actions. Polish Government argued that “the settlement with the Czech Republic had the result that the financial effects of the measures order by the Court of Justice had ceased retroactively”, wrote in a press release announcing Wednesday’s ruling. Moreover, Poland added that “the commission’s offsetting of the money from EU fund is therefore unlawful”. The money levied by the commission came from fines issued before the agreement with Prague, but it was took after the agreement had been reached.

In its ruling on May, 29 2024, the CJEU dismissed Poland’s complaint in its entirety. It found that the removal of the case from the court’s register following the settlement with the Czech Republic did not relieve Poland of the obligation to settle the fines already accrued. In doing so, the objective of the periodic penalty payment, namely to guarantee the effective application of EU law, such application being an essential component of the rule of law, would not be attained. It therefore found that the European Commission, which was responsible for collecting the fines, “could legitimately offset the amounts payable in respect of that periodic penalty payment against amounts owed to Poland by the European Union”. European Commission action, EU executive arm, underline dits intention to pursue a new more aggressive strategy against defaulting Members, even as far as the Russian troops that are grouping over the Ukrainian border are concerned.

Moreover, Poland and EU are involved in some issues that, according to some European bodies, is the result of Poland’s efforts to release from rules. One of this is the exclusion of L.G.B.T.Q. community, Poland laws is superior than EU laws and the reluctance of abandoning fossil fuels. European Union is in front of an essential dilemma on how to behave with such members like Poland and Hungary, that doesn’t want to comply with the rules, but are not going to follow UK example, in leaving the EU in 2020, because the countries both prefer to take advantages of EU funds. Poland is also the most beneficiary of EU funds, that have been used to modernize the country, supporting streets, rails, agriculture and scientific research. Nevertheless, on Tuesday the Commission stated that reduction will not involve Polish citizens, but the government.

Last month, Piotr Müller, Polish politician, defined the fines collection “contrary to international law”. Müller stated that: “Poland will take all possible legal actions to appeal to the Commission”. Poland can still appeal against the sentence. However, Donald Tusk, leading the new government, will decide. Beata Kempa, member of the European Parliament, on the Law and Justice list (in Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość – PiS) stated to Do Rzeczy that she expects Tusk to appeal. Moreover, she was doubtful about the genuineness of this complaint. Also Anna Zalewska, her colleague in the European Parliament, argued that the government should show “a firm action to defend Poland’s interests” in the case, defining “outrageous” the CJEU’s decision, that “legitimizes illegality".

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