The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has upheld the European Commission’s decision to deduct €68.5 million from EU funds allocated to Poland. This deduction is associated with a fine imposed on Poland for its failure to terminate lignite mining activities at the Turów mine. On Thursday, the CJEU dismissed Poland’s appeal against a prior ruling of the General Court on this matter.
This case arose after the Czech Republic filed a complaint with the CJEU about the continuation of coal mining operations at the Turów site. In May 2021, the Vice-President of the Tribunal mandated that Poland immediately cease extraction operations. Following Poland’s non-compliance, the Vice-President levied a daily penalty of €500,000 against the country in favour of the European Commission.
On 3 February 2022, Poland and the Czech Republic settled, leading the CJEU to remove the case from its register. Consequently, the penalties ceased to accrue as of 4 February, 2022. However, the fines that had already been assessed remained pending. As a result, the European Commission proceeded to deduct €68.5 million from Poland’s EU funds.
Poland argued that the settlement with the Czech Republic should effectively retroactively eliminate the fine and subsequently appealed the European Commission’s decision to the General Court. However, in May 2024, the General Court dismissed Poland’s complaint. Poland then escalated the matter to the CJEU, seeking to overturn both the General Court’s ruling and the Commission’s decision.
In its recent ruling, the CJEU determined that Poland’s application lacked merit, affirming that the General Court had accurately interpreted EU law. The CJEU clarified that the obligation to pay a periodic penalty is intended to secure compliance with the court’s interim measures.
The text states that while a judge can reconsider and potentially lift a penalty, they cannot retroactively annul it, as Poland sought. Thus, the settlement between Poland and the Czech Republic does not cancel the penalty or release Poland from its obligation to pay the imposed fines.