In mid-December, the European Commission acknowledged a large part of the arguments put forward by the Czechia in an effort to prevent the expansion and continuation of illegal mining at the Turów mine in Poland, that endangers the sources of drinking water for thousands of people in the Liberec region and, according to new studies, has serious impacts on groundwater in Germany as well. Frank Bold's lawyers, who defend the interests of Czech citizens, have long been involved in the case.
"We are pleased that the European Commission has heard our call and issued a reasoned opinion stating that Poland has violated the directives - a major milestone in this case. The Czech Republic is now in a stronger position on the road to the European Court of Justice. The link between the action and the interim measure to stop mining is crucial at this stage. Therefore, we provide full cooperation to all parties and collect the latest information on the impact of mining, which locals feel every day," said Petra Urbanová, lawyer at Frank Bold.
The Turów mine supplies fuel to the adjacent power plant and has a mining permit until 2026, which was granted in violation of EU rules, which has now been confirmed by the European Commission. At the same time, Poland has long declared that it plans to mine in Turów until 2044. The mine should expand to 30 square kilometers. An out-of-court settlement with Poland has not yet been reached.
More information about families endangered by mining in Turów can be found at https://www.waterorcoal.org/.
The Frank Bold Society and the Neighbourhood Association Uhelná called on the Czech government today to be more consistent in its negotiations with Poland over mining at the Turów brown coal mine. According to both organisations, the government did not have enough information or time to prepare an agreement that would truly protect Czech interests. Moreover, the government has acted in a non-transparent manner by failing to inform the public in advance of the terms of the agreement being prepared, which should lead to the withdrawal of the action against Poland at the EU Court of Justice. The organisations have therefore drawn up a document with seven basic demands on which the Czech side should insist.
The European Commission recently introduced a draft of the revised EU ETS Directive which, among other things, proposes that 100 % of ETS revenues should be used for environmental measures. We welcome this idea but we’re also sceptical about how the ETS revenues are used in the Czech Republic. Therefore, we have prepared an analysis mapping the use of ETS revenues in Czech Republic and sent it to the European Commission as an input for the recent public consultation. The main conclusions are presented below.
We have analysed hundreds of pages of technical documents and prepared a comprehensive overview of the sustainability reporting requirements under the forthcoming EU legislation. We summarise what ESG data will be critical for companies, banks, and investors in sustainability strategy and management and in the areas of climate change, environment, sustainable activities, employees and supply chains, due diligence, and anti-corruption measures.
