The European Commission improperly withheld over €68 million from Poland’s EU funding in connection with the Turów coal mine dispute, according to a preliminary opinion issued Thursday by Advocate General Juliane Kokott of the EU Court of Justice.
The legal dispute began in 2021 when Czechia filed a case against Poland, citing environmental and public health risks stemming from operations at the Turów coal mine, located near the Czech border. In response, the EU court ordered an immediate halt to mining. When Poland continued operations, the court imposed a daily fine of €500,000, which accumulated between 20 September 2021 and 3 February 2022.
However, Thursday’s advisory opinion argues that a 2022 bilateral agreement between Poland and Czechia retroactively nullified the interim court measures and, by extension, the financial penalties. Under the agreement, Poland paid €45 million in compensation and agreed to implement environmental safeguards aimed at mitigating the mine’s cross-border impact.
“The amicable agreement between the Czech Republic and Poland meant that the interim measures were cancelled retroactively,” Kokott wrote. “Therefore, the Commission wrongly offset the penalty payment against Poland’s claims against the EU budget.”
While Kokott’s findings are non-binding, they are often followed by the Court of Justice in its final ruling.
