Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland and the Czech Republic have reached an agreement on the Turów mine. Poland paid the Czech Republic 45 million euros in compensation; the Czech Republic withdrew its complaint to European instances in the case of Turów and it ended the matter completely.
Earlier, the prime ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic talked about the end of the dispute and the signing of the agreement at a joint press conference after the meeting.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki admitted that difficult negotiations that lasted long months were certainly bumpy, protracted, but successful.
Simultaneously, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala confirmed that very serious and long talks brought a successful end.
Polish-Czech talks considering the Turów lignite mine began in June 2021 after the Czechs brought a complaint to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against Poland regarding the extension of the mine. At the same time, Prague demanded that operating in the mine be suspended as a so-called interim measure. The Czech side believes that the mine expansion threatens the access to water for the inhabitants of Czech Liberec; they also complained about noise and dust related to mine activities.
PM Morawiecki confirmed that Poland sent the Czech Republic a transfer for EUR 45 million. Following this, the Czech side withdrew its complaint to the CJEU. On Friday, the Polish Prime Minister took part in a conference on the “Laboratories of the Future” program.
The end of the dispute was also discussed by the Minister of Climate and Environment, Anna Moskwa, who negotiated the issue of Turow. Asked whether the matter could be processed by, for example, the European Commission, the minister said that when the Czechs withdraw the complaint, the matter is closed and thus any other entity involved in this process is no longer a party. Also, the European Commission ceases to be involved in this process.
On September 20, 2021, the CJEU imposed a fine of 500,000 euros per day on Poland. for not implementing the interim measure and continuing to extract lignite from the mine. The Polish government declared that it does not intend to pay the fine.
The Minister of the Environment emphasized that Poland will definitely not pay the penalties that would be charged by the Tribunal until the judgment is delivered. As for the penalties previously imposed by the European institutions, she will submit a request for their withdrawal as if there is no dispute, there is no justification for paying these penalties.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński