2021-05-25 10:48 update: 2021-05-25, 19:58
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo PAP/EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
The Czech Republic has agreed to withdraw a lawsuit it filed to the EU's top court to halt operations at a lignite coal mine in south-west of Poland, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said.
Morawiecki and his Czech counterpart, Andrej Babis, met before an EU summit in Brussels on Monday to discuss the Polish Turow lignite mine that the Czechs want to see shut down through the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruling.
"Given the tightening of cross-border cooperation with the Czech Republic, it seems that we are already very close to an agreement," Mateusz Morawiecki said after the meeting.
"As a result of it, the Czech Republic agreed to withdraw its application to the CJEU," he said early on Tuesday.
"We agreed to set up an expert committee to investigate the environmental issues related to the open pit," Morawiecki added.
The agreement provides for long-term projects co-financed by the Polish side in the amount of up to EUR 45 million, Morawiecki said.
He added that the co-financing will include funds from the state budget, local governments and the state-owned PGE company (the largest Polish energy company), which is the owner of the Turow mine and the adjacent power plant.
Morawiecki stressed that the Turow mine and the power plant will continue to work.
Last week, the CJEU ordered the Turow mine, which lies near the Czech border, to suspend extraction pending a final decision in the case.
The Czech Republic has been seeking its closure owing to environmental concerns. The Czechs believe the mine has a negative impact on border regions where the groundwater level has decreased. (PAP)
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