The judgment of the European Court of Justice on the poor air quality in Poland gives the subject of the fight against smog a special importance before the local government elections in 2018.
The sentence speeds up the work of the government
The court ruled that in 2007-13 Poland regularly recorded poor air quality indicators. It demands a shortening of the deadline for improvement of the situation, which is currently set for 2020-24.
On the one hand, the ruling party reminds of ambitious plans: Clean Air Program, Poland without Smog Program, Smog Stop Program. On the other hand, it must fight for votes of miners in Silesia and can not offer too radical solutions.
The dispute within the government
An internal dispute over the quality standards for solid fuels is, which may reduce coal sales from Polish mines is going on. The Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology, Jadwiga Emilewicz, is in charge of radical actions, whereas the minister of energy Krzysztof Tchórzewski has a careful approach. The opposition which demands more decisive action and strengthen the pressure. Polish coal is highly sulphurised and therefore could not meet the high quality standards.
Pressure before local elections
The Platforma Obywatelska and Gabriela Lenartowicz, with their own program of activities, also warm up the fight against smog, as well as Nowoczesna.pl, which presented the First Anti Smog Package, which provides subsidies for the exchange of ovens and the regulation on quality standards for solid fuels, that is, implementation of the demands already made by the government.
The topic of smog has won the first places of information services in Poland. Local elections in 2018 may be under significant influence of this topic. Political parties have made it one of the key issues of their programs.
Wojciech Jakóbik