Disregarding ECJ judgments will be expensive for Poland

The refusal to implement judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will be expensive for the Polish government.

Brussels/Warsaw - Since the beginning of the year, the EU Commission has withheld 129 million euros in subsidies earmarked for Poland, Der Spiegel reports. The withholding comes as compensation for the country's refusal to pay fines imposed by the ECJ. At the end of October, the ECJ ordered Poland to pay the Commission one million euros a day because the controversial disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court is continuing its work to this day despite a ECJ ruling.

The judges had previously imposed a fine of 500,000 euros per day on Poland because Warsaw did not stop the open pit mining in the Turów opencast mine as requested. Despite monthly requests for payment from the Commission, no money has yet been received from Warsaw. The authority of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has therefore reduced the funding for Poland - which is higher than for any other EU country.

According to the Commission, this is 69 million in the case of the Disciplinary Chamber and 60 million for the Turów coal mine. Poland's subsidies will be cut "as long as Poland breaks EU law," said a Commission spokesman.

Source: Der Newsticker