The European Union threatens to block Poland access to 18 million euros (21 million dollars). Brussels put an ultimatum: either the country pays a fine of 500 thousand euros per day in the case of the coal mine “Tours”, or it is deducted from budget payments, reports Bloomberg.
In September, Poland refused to close the mine, which, as the Czech Republic declares, depletes water reserves from the border regions. The European Court sentenced the country to the daily fine to the closure of the mine. The European Commission sent a letter to the Government of Poland with a request to provide information on the plan for termination of the mine. The Government of Poland said that the EC letter did not consider an official request for payment of a fine, and the representative of the EC reported that the EU would continue to send requests until Warsaw fulfills the condition and will not close the “tours” mine.
Poland receives 70 percent of coal electricity, and on “tours” accounts for up to 7 percent of the country’s energy supply. According to Poland, the closure of the mine belonging to the largest public enterprise in the state can lead to power outages and loss of workplaces.
EU has already frozen the payment of 36 billion euros, requested by Poland to restore after a pandemic. The blocking of this amount was associated with a judicial reform that undermined the independence of judges. After Poland adopted the law concluded the country’s constitution above the EU laws. The European Commission in response to this threatened to deprive Poland the right to vote in the block and launch a new budget mechanism to hold payments, which will block payments to countries accused of violating democratic principles. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateush MOREVETSKA accused EU politicians in blackmail and stated that the country could disrupt climate negotiations if he did not receive funds from the budget.