The European Commission said it would take the unprecedented step of using EU funds meant for Poland to collect a fine Warsaw has built up for refusing to close a coal mine.

The EU executive has informed Poland of its decision, which will be carried out next week, according to spokesman Balazs Ujvari. The Polish government said Warsaw would use "all possible legal means to appeal against this," Poland's PAP news agency reported.

There was some good news for Poland after the European Court of Justice said that it had ended the ongoing proceedings over the giant Turow coal mine, following an agreement reached between Warsaw and Prague. 

The European Court of Justice has closed the case "following an amicable agreement between the Czech Republic and Poland", the court said on Twitter.

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According to an AFP calculation, the unpaid fine amounts to around $80 million, including interest.

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) hit Poland with the $​​571,000-a-day fine last September for refusing to comply with an order to close its Turow mine producing lignite, also known as brown coal.

Germany and Czechia complain 

Poland's neighbors Czechia and Germany had complained of environmental damage the mine caused, including affecting groundwater levels and creating dust and noise.

Last week, Poland signed a deal with Czechia to end the dispute over the mine, but that did not erase the CJEU fine, which Warsaw had steadfastly said it would not pay.

"From the very beginning, Poland has emphasized that the decisions taken by the CJEU had no legal or factual basis," government spokesperson Piotr Muller said. "They go beyond the EU treaties and violate the treaty guarantees of energy security."

But EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders insisted that the European Commission – the Brussels executive and guardian of the EU treaties – must be seen to uphold the court's decisions.

"If the member state does not pay, it is obvious that we must organize, as we have said from the start, the withholding of funds," he said. "If we don't do this, no one would pay their fines anymore."