A Canadian company has found what euronews reports is Poland's biggest oil and gas field since the Second World War, in Baltic Sea waters off Poland's coast. The 2025 discovery has Warsaw pushing to drill; Germany objects, citing risks to the environment and its Baltic tourism industry, per the same report.

The field sits in waters shared with Germany. Under EU environmental law, a project likely to have significant cross-border effects triggers a transboundary environmental impact assessment: the neighbouring state's authorities and public gain a formal right to review and comment before Poland can issue a drilling permit. That procedure, not Brussels, is where the dispute would be fought.

Germany's objection also points toward the EU's Habitats Directive, which protects designated Natura 2000 conservation sites, several of which sit along the Baltic coastline the two countries share. Hypothesis: if the field overlaps or sits near one of these zones, Warsaw would need to show the project doesn't undermine its conservation goals before drilling proceeds. Supporting this: euronews frames Germany's objection explicitly around environmental harm. Against this: the report does not specify the field's exact position relative to any protected area, so the link to a specific Natura 2000 site remains unconfirmed.

Also unconfirmed: the Canadian firm's name, the field's precise size, and whether Germany has formally requested cross-border consultation or simply voiced concern. Watch for whether Warsaw treats the find as an energy-security priority worth overriding Berlin's objections, and whether Germany elevates its complaint to the European Commission.