Parliament presses for more scrutiny of EU Investment Plan but guts green prospects
Press release | 20 April, 2015BRUSSELS – MEPs ditch ring fencing for energy savings but demand more democratic oversight over the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) that has been setup to implement Commission President Juncker’s economic recovery plan.
Read moreDevelopment Banks Urged to Review Support for Mekong Dams, 10 Years After Nam Theun 2
Press release | 1 April, 2015Amsterdam/Bangkok/Manila/Prague/Tokyo – Non-governmental organizations are calling on the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and European Investment Bank (EIB) to publicly acknowledge the millions of dollars of failed investment in their flagship project, Nam Theun 2. This 1070 MW dam has failed to bring intended development benefits, and instead has unleashed a range of negative impacts on the affected populations in central Laos.
Read moreEuropean Parliament intergroup ITCO condemns new transparency policy of the European Investment Bank
Blog entry | 13 March, 2015The European Investment Bank’s slide towards secrecy, manifest in its newly adopted transparency policy, has been lambasted by the intergroup of the European Parliament responsible for transparency and corruption.
Read moreEIB’s new transparency policy allows for more secrecy
Press release | 11 March, 2015Brussels – Yesterday the European Investment Bank (EIB) formally adopted a revised transparency policy including controversial exceptions to the disclosure of internal documents. This watered down transparency policy comes right before the bank will start implementing the € 315 billion Juncker plan and risks undermining the impact of EU recovery efforts.
Read moreDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: An Energy Union torn between clean energy and fossil fuels
Press release | 24 February, 2015Brussels – The vision of Energy Union to be outlined by the European Commission tomorrow proposes making Europe a world leader in renewables and energy efficiency, but at the same time envisages significant investments undermining that goal, such as gas import infrastructure, nuclear and dirty unconventional fossil fuels.
Read moreEU priority gas pipeline faces fierce opposition in Italy
Blog entry | 17 February, 2015The European Investment Bank recently confirmed plans to finance the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline from Greece via Albania to Italy. Yet a coalition of local mayors will do whatever it takes to stop the project.
Read moreEIB Climate Action undermined by bank’s fossil fuel lending
Press release | 11 February, 2015Brussels — Ahead of a public consultation on the European Investment Bank’s Climate Action Programme tomorrow in Brussels, Bankwatch insists that, if the bank’s pro-climate efforts are to be effective, the EIB must give up its loans to fossil fuels and other climate-damaging sectors.
Read moreNatural gas left, right and centre at Energy Union conference in Riga
Blog entry | 11 February, 2015Massive infrastructure for transporting natural gas is shaping up to be a centre piece of the Energy Union put forward by the Juncker Commission. This was also the impression Bankwatch campaigners had at an Energy Union conference in Riga last week.
Read moreLong awaited investigation into Glencore for alleged tax dodging shows EU Bank’s lack of transparency and vulnerability to abuse
Press release | 5 February, 2015Brussels – The European Investment Bank (EIB) is virtually powerless in the face of abuse of its own funds, an internal investigation published last week by the EIB shows. What’s even worse is that the EIB’s new transparency policy – to be adopted in the coming weeks – would formally allow the bank to keep such internal investigations into abuses of its funds secret, hereby undermining public scrutiny of public money.
Read moreEuropean Investment Bank confirms plans to finance Trans-Adriatic Pipeline
Blog entry | 4 February, 2015On February 2, during the annual meeting between civil society and the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Board of Directors, the EIB revealed that the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was among its priority projects for 2015 in the Balkans.[*] The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, planned to stretch from Greece via Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy, is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, a chain of projects meant to bring natural gas to Europe from the Shah Deniz offshore gas field in Azerbaijan.
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