The Polish PM Andrzej Duda is set to try to solve his country’s long running dispute with the EU over so-called „rule of law” issues which has seen Brussels withdraw EU Covid funding and levy daily fines of EUR 1 million.
Duda is to propose a bill to the Polish parliament to disband a disciplinary chamber for judges that was at the centre of the dispute to overhaul the Polish justice system, much of which was unchanged since communism and to calm EU fears that the overhaul is an attempt to make the system dependent on politicians. Duda hopes the initiative will enable the government to end the deadlock and secure the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery funds. The EU’s top court in October ordered Poland to pay the daily fine for not suspending the contested disciplinary chamber, adding to pressure on Warsaw.

Source – Polskie Radio

Poland and the Czech Republic have reached a deal in the long running dispute between the countries over a coal mine near the border between the two nations.

Under the deal, Poland will pay the Czech Republic EUR 45 million (around USD 51 million) in compensation for environmental damage caused by the expansion of the mine on the Polish side of the border. Poland will also build a protective underground barrier to prevent water levels from dropping. The Czech PM has said that his country would withdraw a legal complaint against Poland over the mine from the European Court of Justice which saw Poland hit with a 500,000 daily fine payable to the European Commission for defying an earlier order to halt operations at the mine.

Source – Polskie Radio

The sportswear company Nike has opened new offices in Gdańsk’s Olivia Business Centre complex this week with the opening of its new Technology Department.

Unofficially, there will be several hundred jobs opening in the new offices, currently on the Nike website there are 26 positions being advertised in the area of IT technology and machine learning.

Source – Gdansk.pl

Norwegian airlines is to open a number of new routes from Gdańsk to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and the Norwegian city of Bergen this year.

Starting in May, the operator will fly twice a week to the Danish, Swedish and Finnish capitals and will fly to Bergen twice a week from June. Prices for flights will start at around PLN 130 and are already available for booking on the company’s website.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be cloudy and wet day with light winds and temperatures of 5 degrees centigrade (41 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 2 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will be a windy tomorrow with sleet showers and sunny spells and temperatures of 4 degrees during the day and 1 degree overnight.

Martin Caren/MarWer