Updates on the European Investment Bank

Principles of effectiveness for the EIB Complaints Mechanism Office – briefing for the directors of the European Investment Bank

Energy and climate action at the EIB – briefing for the directors of the European Investment Bank

Outsourcing accountability? The EIB’s failure to enforce environmental information disclosure in its intermediated loans

The European Investment Bank is known to have provided over EUR 22 million for the construction of at least 19 small and mini hydropower plants through financial intermediaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia between 2010 and 2

Regarding the Energa Hybrid Bond project

An inquiry from Polish and European NGOs to the EIB about its planned support of EUR 250 million for the modernisation and extension of Polish utility Energa’s electricity distribution network.

Support to fossil fuel projects from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)

In September 2016 the European Commission published its proposal for the prolongation of the EFSI until 2020, to be achieved by amending the existing regulation. We welcome several improvements, but are concerned that they fall short of properly tackling the challenges and shortcomings identified, namely to provide additionality and catalyse the unambiguous move to reduce GHG reductions. On the basis of our in depth report Best Laid Plans, which analysed the 93 projects approved until July 2016 and further analysis of the EFSI entire portfolio till the end of 2016 under the Infrastructure and Innovation Window (IIW), we consider that the EFSI regulation needs considerable improvements in the energy area.

The Bratislava bypass – a public-private partnership to get around traffic problems and debt statistics

In this report, Bankwatch and Counter Balance trace the murky story of the Bratislava bypass, a EUR 1.76 billion project supported by the Slovak government and promoted as the biggest project in central eastern Europe that was guaranteed through the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).

‘Southern Graft Corridor’ or the shady history of companies involved in Europe’s pet energy project

A new Bankwatch study reveals a worrying track record of criminal and corrupt activities among the companies that are building Europe’s flagship gas pipeline project, the Southern Gas Corridor.

Risky business – Who benefits from the Southern Gas Corridor

The Southern Gas Corridor, a string of pipelines meant to bring gas from Azerbaijan into Europe, is presented as a panacea for all ills and is set to benefit from some of the biggest loans in the history of European public banks. But as this report reveals, Europe’s flagship energy project is set to benefit a host of companies and individuals with a particularly shady track record. Several companies contracted to build the Southern Gas Corridor have a worrying history of corruption.

Reviewing the European Investment Bank’s carbon footprint methodology

The briefing makes recommendations for the European Investment Bank’s methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emissions, which is currently under review. It also provides case studies that illustrate the shortcomings of the bank’s current approach – most notably its strategy towards supporting gas projects.

Azerbaijan: Crackdown on critics undermines sustainable development – Human Rights Watch letter to the European Investment Bank

In this letter, Human Rights Watch and Bankwatch highlight the ongoing repression of independent civil society in Azerbaijan and its impact on sustainable develpoment and urge the European Investment Bank to not provide financing for projects related to the country’s extractives sector such as the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).