Poland on Thursday moved to bring to an end two disputes that have left it facing hefty EU fines and accusations of riding roughshod over environmental and democratic standards.
Poland's president proposed a draft law to scrap a Supreme Court chamber contested by Brussels, while the prime minister flew to Prague to strike a deal on a controversial brown coal mine.
"I want to give the Polish government a path to ending the dispute with the European Commission," President Andrzej Duda said in televised comments as he announced the court move.
The proposal concerns the "disciplinary chamber" of the Supreme Court - part of a judicial overhaul by Poland's populist government that Brussels says undermines judicial independence.
The government insists the reforms are necessary to root out corruption and the legacy of judges appointed under Communism.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) last year imposed a daily one-million-euro fine on Poland for ignoring an order to suspend the disciplinary chamber, which Warsaw has refused to pay.
Last month, Brussels asked Poland to pay nearly 70 million euros ($79 million) in fines accrued so far and threatened to start deducting the money from EU funds earmarked for Warsaw.
"We will have to wait and see what exactly is proposed," European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer told reporters in Brussels when asked about Duda's draft measures on Thursday.
The changes would still have to be approved by Polish lawmakers.
Commission spokesman Christian Wigand said the fines would continue to be charged "until Poland fully complies".
Under the proposal outlined by Duda, the "disciplinary chamber" would be replaced by a different body called the "Chamber of Professional Responsibility" with 11 judges.
Laurent Pech, professor of European law at Middlesex University in Britain, said on Twitter that it was "just an attempt to get EU money via a bogus rebranding attempt".
'Does not solve the problem'
In another apparent concession on Thursday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki struck an agreement on the Turow open-cast mine with his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala.
According to the deal, Poland will pay the Czechs €45 million in compensation for damage caused by the mine, and Prague will in turn withdraw a complaint to the EU's top court that led to an order for its closure.
Morawiecki said he hoped the Czechs would do so later on Thursday or Friday so "the problem will cease to exist".
Poland has refused to shut down the lignite mine near the Czech and German borders as it fuels a power station that provides around seven percent of Poland's electricity needs.
Poland relies on coal to meet up to 80 percent of its energy, but has vowed to develop green energy sources and to shut its last mine by 2049, in line with EU emissions targets.
In May last year, the European Court of Justice ordered Poland's government to close the Turow mine.
In September, the EU court ordered Warsaw to pay a penalty of 500,000 euros per day until the mine was closed down.
The European Commission issued its final warning last month for Poland to pay the fine, saying that in this case too the sum owed could be subtracted from future EU fund payments.
Poland owes the European Union nearly 70 million euros ($80 million) in unpaid fines so far for its failure to close the Turow mine.
Morawiecki said Thursday Poland would appeal the fines, which he called a "diktat coming from a far-away Brussels or Luxembourg".
Environmentalists criticised Thursday's agreement for allowing the mine to continue to operate, with Greenpeace Poland saying "it does not solve the problem of the lack of a plan for abandoning coal".