2021-05-21 14:27 update: 2021-06-10, 11:02
Turow lignite mine. Phot. PAP/Grzegorz Hawałej
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has supported a request by the Czech Republic for production to be stopped at the Turow lignite mine in the south-west of the country, and ordered Poland to immediately suspend extraction.
The Turow open-cast mine is located close to Poland's border with the Czech Republic and Germany.
In February, the Czech government decided to take Poland to the court in connection with the expansion of the Turow opencast mine. The main justifications were the mine’s impact on cross-border regions, the reduction of groundwater levels, and, as a result, lack of drinking water in the region.
"Poland must immediately cease lignite extraction activities in the Turow mine," the CJEU said in a news release.
"The pleas of fact and law raised by the Czech Republic justify the granting of the interim measures sought," the court added.
The suspension of the mine's activities will remain in place until a final verdict is issued, the court said.
The mine's owner, the energy group PGE, said in a statement for PAP that it will analyse the CJEU's ruling before it takes further steps.
In a Twitter post, however, PGE said the court's decision "paves the way for a wild energy transition."
"The EU's Green Deal is failing before our eyes," PGE added.
In early April, Poland requested the CJEU to reject the Czech motion to halt mining at Turow.
A power station at Turow accounts for 7 percent of electricity used in Poland so closing the mine would also entail closing the power plant it supplies.
In 2020, the mine’s lignite mining licence was extended until 2026. (PAP)
