EU Funds – CEE Bankwatch Network

At our forthcoming conference "Climate Proofing EU Structural and Cohesion Funds" we will address and explore how climate change fits into the important decisions on the future of cohesion policy and the EU budget review that are to be taken in the next three years at EU level. The conference aims to engage members of the European Parliament, EU officials and national/regional governments, civil society and the media in one day of constructive discussion.

Read more about the background of the conference, the issues to be discussed and how to participate.

Cohesion or collision? Map of controversial projects in central and eastern Europe

As the EU gears up to pour billions of euros in Structural and Cohesion Funds into its new member states between 2007 and 2013, a big chunk of this public money is in danger of being used to fund controversial infrastructure projects. Our newly launched map highlights 22 environmentally damaging, economically unjustified, socially controversial or legally deficient projects with a total cost of roughly six billion euros. Some of them are simply unnecessary, while better alternatives - as described in the map - exist for all the other cases. EU funds are essential for the CEE region but they must bring real benefits, not cause damage. Somehow this very simple concept appears to have been forgotten.

View the 2009 version of the map here.

EU funds are shaping the long-term development of the new member states

Public consultation for the ISPA funded National Hazardous Waste Centre, Bulgaria

With EUR 44 billion per year, the Structural and Cohesion Funds constitute the second biggest part of the EU's budget.. The new member states and acceding countries of Central and Eastern Europe will become the main recipients of these resources beginning in 2007. The incoming funds and policies linked with them will shape the long-term development of these countries. Efficient and environmentally sustainable use of the EU funds is therefore very much in the interests of people in the new member states, as well as of taxpayers all over Europe.

EU funds bring both opportunities and threats to sustainable development

The billions pouring into the new member states have great potential to foster sustainable patterns of development –only if the priorities are set right and the funds used properly. The funds could help the new member states secure significant energy savings, encourage renewable energy generation, upgrade the existing dense railway network, rehabilitate regional roads and improve their safety, as well as finance urban public transport. The funds can also support efficient and innovative waste management projects, recycle and reuse schemes and help cover the high costs of meeting EU environmental standards within the agreed transition periods. Most of these investments would bring not only environmental but also economic and social gains. Currently, however, the funds also present threats to sustainability, e.g. by funding projects harmful to the environment or by promoting unsustainable development, e.g. in the transport sector. See examples in our map of controversial projects.

New cohesion policy for 2007-2013

A few years ago, a new political and financial framework for the EU funds has been prepared and put in place for the entire period 2007-2013. At the EU level, new regulations and strategic guidelines approved in 2006 have set the rules and funding priorities.

National and regional level: the programming process

What will actually receive funding is largely decided at the national or regional level. In the so-called 'programming process,' member states or regions prepare operational programmes that specify actual investments in the fields of transport, environment, industry, human resources, etc. and financial allocations for them. The European Commission has the final say on the programmes, and these negotiations will stretch into 2007.

Together with Friends of the Earth Europe, CEE Bankwatch Network strives to ensure that the funding programmes support sustainable development and that civil society is actively involved in their preparation and monitoring. See our webpage on the programmes for 2007-2013.

NGO involvement: securing proper and environmentally sustainable use of the EU funds

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play an important role in securing the proper use of EU funds. By bringing independent expertise, raising public awareness and monitoring the workings of authorities, NGO involvement secures transparent and democratic decision-making and contributes to a better use of public resources overall. The involvement of environmental NGOs in particular is important for ensuring that the EU funding allocations encourage sustainable patterns of development in the EU regions, respect European and national environmental priorities and laws, and do not contribute to environmental damage. See the NGO proposal for 10 Golden Rules for Partnership in EU Funds.

NGO Coalition for Sustainable EU Funds

Together with other NGOs such as Friends of the Earth Europe, World Wide Fund for Nature and BirdLife International, Bankwatch has helped to set up a Coalition advocating a set of changes in the EU funds. See the Coalition website for more information about the policy process at the EU level.