Poland loses case in the EU Court of Justice over payment of a €320 million fine to Brussels

The EU’s General Court of Justice has ruled that Poland had to pay a total of about EUR 320 million and 200 thousand in fines imposed by the EU Court of Justice in the 2019 judicial reform case.

The court’s decision explicitly states this, Euronews reports.

As the court recalled, on April 1, 2021, the European Commission filed a lawsuit against Poland in the EU Court of Justice for the country’s failure to fulfill its obligations. It demanded to recognize that the legislative changes in the organization of the Polish judicial system, adopted in December 2019, violate EU law.

In the course of the proceedings, the court ordered Poland, among other things, to suspend the application of certain national provisions challenged by the European Commission.

By failing to comply with this interim measure, on October 27, 2021, Poland was obliged to pay a daily fine of one million euros to the Commission. This daily penalty payment started to accrue on November 3, 2021.

On June 9, 2022, in order to comply with the interim measure imposed by the EU Court of Justice, Poland adopted the necessary law.

On April 21, 2021, the CJEU ruled that this legislative change largely enabled the interim measure to be implemented, and from April 21, 2023, the fine payment was reduced to EUR 500 thousand per day.

Since Poland did not pay the daily fine payments, the Commission periodically collected the amounts by deducting them from the EU payments to Poland.

Poland has filed a lawsuit with the General Court of the European Union demanding the annulment of a total of six decisions on such penalties. These decisions cover the period from July 15, 2022, to June 4, 2023. The amounts recovered in this manner totaled approximately EUR 320 million and 200 thousand.

However, the court of general jurisdiction dismissed Poland’s claim in full. The court ruled that the Commission did not violate EU law by collecting the amounts due from Poland.