Thursday, October 28, 2021
“Not just a single zloty”
Polish government rejects EU fine
Because of its controversial judicial reform, Poland is expected to pay a fine of one million euros a day, according to an ECJ ruling. But the government in Warsaw is unapologetic. The Minister of Justice not only rejects these sanctions, but also those due to lignite mining on the border with Saxony.
Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has rejected the payment of fines ordered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). “Poland cannot and should not pay a single zloty,” he told the PAP news agency. The Polish state should not “submit to lawlessness”. This applies to the fines imposed in connection with the controversial judicial reform and the Turow lignite mining on the border with Saxony.
The court in Luxembourg sentenced Poland to pay a daily fine of one million euros on Wednesday. The reason is the country’s refusal to date to implement EU supreme court decisions on Polish judicial reforms. It is particularly about the order to stop the work of the controversial disciplinary body to punish judges. According to ECJ rulings, the activity is not compatible with EU rules on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
The Vice-President of the Court of Justice announced that compliance with the order of 14 July was necessary in order to avert “serious and irreparable damage” to the legal order of the European Union and the values on which this Union is based (…). The fine is supposed to ensure that Poland does not delay compliance. The financial sanctions against Poland were requested on September 9th by the EU commission responsible for monitoring the rule of law in the EU. They are now due until Poland complies with the ECJ’s orders.
On September 20, Poland was sentenced to a fine by the ECJ for the Turow opencast mine. Despite an interim ECJ order from May, Warsaw did not stop lignite mining, according to an order from ECJ Vice-President Rosario Silva de Lapuerta. Therefore, Poland would have to pay a fine of 500,000 euros for every day that it does not comply with the order.