“Earlier this year, the Czech Republic filed a lawsuit against Poland saying the Turów mine, close to the Czech border, drains groundwater from surrounding areas, expressing concerns about its environmental impact. The ECJ ordered Poland to stop its extraction activities at the mine but the country’s government ignored the order. The Czech Republic asked the ECJ to impose a daily penalty of €5 million but last month the court said Poland must pay €500,000 a day for as long as the mine continues to extract.”
“The court ruled that the previous 2026 license for Turow had infringed EU laws because it was granted without an environmental assessment.”
“This ruling is a welcome reprieve for people living on the front line of this crisis, who have been forced to live with the mine gulping their drinking water and undercutting their houses.”
“The rules are the same for everyone, and they are there to protect everyone.”/p>
In January, the German city of Zittau, just across the border from Turow, also took Poland to the same court on the same grounds. The Czech government filed the claim after talks with Warsaw were inconclusive.
So, MN, I don’t think it quite the EU bullying that the hateful express, erm, expresses(?). Both Germany and Czech Republic have tried to negotiate with Poland regarding the lignite Turów mine, which borders both countries, to no avail and consequently brought a case to the Court of Justice of the European Union which was specifically set up for such disputes in order to interpret EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all EU countries, and settles legal disputes between national governments and EU institutions. BY signing the treaties all 3 countries agreed to that. Also, the order that Poland is refusing to comply with was for a temporary halt to the extension of mining activities until an environmental assessment was done. If you want to build anything in the UK of any size environmental assessments must be carried out for good reasons.
I don’t know to what extent either party in this dispute is right or wrong in terms of the extent or even existence of interference with the groundwater supplies in nearby German or Czech villages and towns but surely if they are claiming that there is it merits consideration and assessment? If it were the UK it would have already been done.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has supremacy in law in EU countries only in areas in which the EU treaties gave the EU competencies or powers to make law. The European Union is only competent to act within the scope of the powers allocated to it (by the treaties).
In this case it makes sense. If business can sell into any EU country it makes sense that they have to comply on an equal footing with any regulation of standards or otherwise.