• Europe Poland describes the EU fine of one million euros a day as "blackmail" for not respecting the independence of the judiciary

The European Commission has launched this Tuesday the 'punishment' mechanism

to start deducting funds from the Community Budget that correspond to Poland due

to Warsaw's refusal to comply with its legal obligations.

The case dates back years and concerns a dispute over the closure of the Turow lignite mine, which was sued by Brussels and which the EU Court of Justice upheld in a ruling.

The Polish Government, however, has not complied with its obligation, nor has it paid the fine imposed by the Luxembourg High Court, a measure of pressure until the closure of the facilities became effective.

So the Commission, after repeated eagerness,

has decided to directly collect the amount owed.

The Commission has officially informed the Polish Government that it will proceed in ten working days

with the "withholding of payments for accumulated fines"

, at a rate of half a million euros per day between September 20 and October 19 last year, a total of almost 15 million euros, according to data from the Community Budget spokesman,

Balasz Ujvar.

"The Commission

complies with its legal obligation to collect the penalties imposed by the Court of Justice

in accordance with its order of September 20, 2021. In this regard, the Commission follows the rules established in the financial regulation in the event of non-payment by part of the Member State," adds the spokesman.

The protocol may seem obvious, discounting the amount of the tens of billions that correspond to Poland by infinite items in the face of the constant violation of rules and procedures, but it is something that has never happened before and it happens, precisely, with the country that more fronts are open right now.

Poland has also imposed a fine of one million euros a day until it

makes effective the dismantling of a disciplinary chamber

, within the judicial system, which the EU treaties and the CJEU consider incompatible with the acquis communautaire.

And since he also refuses to proceed or pay, he could face the same fate in a matter of weeks.

And all this in an even broader context, since Poland

has not yet received the approval of the Commission for its National Recovery Plan

, and therefore does not opt ​​for disbursements to face the consequences of the pandemic, more than 35,000 million euros.

And in addition, it faces the possibility that the Commission activates the Rule of Law Mechanism in a matter of weeks or months, which would allow the de facto freezing of structural or cohesion funds in the face of constant violations of common rules.

Regarding the mine itself, the

Czech Republic and Poland reached an agreement last week to end the dispute over this controversial

area of ​​lignite exploitation on the border between the two countries, which includes a payment of 45 million euros for the damage caused to several Czech towns, the construction of an underground fence to prevent losses of groundwater and an embankment against noise, reports Efe.

As soon as Warsaw makes the compensation effective, Prague will withdraw the complaint before the Court of Justice of the European Union, which had agreed with it and ordered the closure of the mine as a precautionary measure.

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  • Poland

  • European Comission

  • Justice

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