According to unofficial information, there is an agreement between the Polish and Czech governments on the Turów mine. The Polish side was to accept its contents in the routing procedure. The Ministry of Climate and Environment does not comment on these reports.
According to unofficial information from the Polish Press Agency, on Wednesday evening the Polish government – in routing mode – adopted the content of the agreement. The source did not provide details of the document approved by the government.
The source said that in recent days there have been talks and agreements between Polish and Czech teams on working out an agreement on the operation of the Turów mine.
“The negotiating team led by Minister Anna Moskwa (Minister of Climate and Environment) agreed on the content of the agreement with the Czech partners,” it was reported.
The agreement must be initialled by both governments.
Asked by the Polish Press Agency to comment on the matter, the Climate and Environment Ministry declined to answer, citing the confidentiality of the talks with the Czechs.
Polish-Czech talks over the Turów lignite mine began in June 2021 after the Czech side filed a complaint with the Court of Justice of the European Union against Poland over the expansion of the mine. At the same time, Prague demanded the suspension of mining at the mine as a so-called temporary measure. The Czech side believes that the expansion of the mine threatens the Czech Liberec residents’ access to water; they also complain about noise and dust associated with the mine operations.
On September 20, 2021, the CJEU fined Poland €500,000 per day for failing to implement an interim measure and stop lignite mining at the mine. The Polish government declares that it does not intend to pay the fine. The opinion of the CJEU Advocate General on the Polish-Czech Turów dispute is expected to be announced on Thursday, February 3.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala had earlier declared that the conclusion of the agreement with Poland would result in his country withdrawing its complaint from the CJEU.