Poland loses before EU court in dispute over Turow opencast lignite mine

In the dispute over the Turow opencast lignite mine, Poland has conceded defeat before the EU court. The EU Commission was allowed to offset the penalty payment imposed on Warsaw against Polish claims, the judges ruled in Luxembourg on Wednesday.

The background to this is a long conflict over lignite mining in the border triangle with Germany and the Czech Republic. The controversial open-cast mine is located just a few kilometers from Zittau in Saxony and Hradek nad Nisou in the Czech Republic. Critics of the open-cast mine on the German and Czech side of the border fear a further lowering of the groundwater level and damage to buildings. In 2021, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ordered a halt to lignite mining following a lawsuit by the Czech Republic. However, Poland did not comply. The Court therefore imposed a fine of 500,000 euros for every day that Poland did not comply with the decision. The money was to flow into the common EU budget.

Poland reached an agreement with the Czech Republic in 2022, but did not pay the fine. The EU Commission then decided that it would offset the money owed against the country's claims against the EU. Poland appealed against this: The agreement with the Czech Republic meant that the financial effects of the ECJ ruling had been retroactively removed. Therefore, the EU Commission should not have offset the amounts against each other.

The judges did not agree, however, and dismissed the complaint on Wednesday. Even if Poland had reached an agreement with the Czech Republic, the country had to pay the penalty payment until the agreement was reached, the court ruled. The EU Commission had also sufficiently justified the offsetting of the amounts. The ruling can still be appealed against before the highest European court, the ECJ.