Newsletter

Justice minister attacks EU for penalty payment ruling: “Poland shouldn’t pay a single zloty” – politics

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 said, according to the PAP news agency.

The Polish state should not “submit to lawlessness”, said Ziobro. This applies to the fines imposed in connection with the controversial judicial reform and the Turow lignite mining on the border with Saxony.

[Lesen Sie zudem: Streit um Corona-Hilfen – Polen droht mit Blockade bei EU-Klimaverhandlungen (T+)]

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.

On Wednesday, the Polish government headed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had rejected the ECJ ruling as “blackmail”.

Multifaceted conflict

The verdict 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.

[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten aus Berlin, Deutschland und der Welt live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]

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. (dpa)

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending