Penalties imposed by the EC to be deducted from EU subsidies
21:52
"If the CJEU imposes a financial penalty on a Member State and the payment is not made, the financial penalty should be recovered by deducting from payments due to the Member State concerned," the press service of the European Commission told PAP.
The EC also points out that it will closely monitor compliance with the order of May 21, this year, in which Poland was obliged to suspend mining in the Turów lignite mine and will continue the demands for payment until the order is fulfilled.
However, the statement did not specify which subsidies were meant and whether the money from the EU Reconstruction Fund could be withheld. The date of application of such a measure was also not given.
In May this year, as a preventive measure, the CJEU ordered the immediate suspension of mining in the Turów mine until the ruling in the case was issued, agreeing to the request of the Czechs. The Czech Minister of Environment, Richard Brabec, explained that the suspension of mining activities in Turów is necessary to protect Czech citizens because the mine has a negative impact on the lives of tens of thousands of residents of the regions bordering Poland.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the decision of the CJEU as unprecedented and contrary to the basic principles of the functioning of the EU. At the same time, the Polish government started negotiations with the Czech side. However, due to the fact that Warsaw did not comply with the CJEU's ruling, on September 20, the Court ordered Poland to pay a fine of €0.5 million per day to the European Commission.
