New investigation in Kresna gorge reveals another major breach of law
Blog entry | 15 February, 2019An independent investigation by a Bulgarian TV channel bTV discovered progressing construction works in the Kresna gorge area even though the official procurement procedure is still ongoing.
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EU Parliament shirks responsibility for climate action in future funding of Europe’s most needy regions
Press release | 14 February, 2019Brussels, for immediate release – A vote today by the Parliament on the future European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Funds for 2021-2027 opens the possibilities for continued funding of fossil fuels, in spite of the EU’s obligations to reduce greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement and its net-zero emissions Long Term Strategy.
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Croatian coal plant must not be resurrected
Blog entry | 13 February, 2019The Plomin 1 coal plant, on Croatia’s Istrian coast, is already 50 years old. In 2017 it closed due to a fire. Yet the Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy looks set to allow Plomin 1’s owner, HEP, to bring it back from the dead without even an environmental impact assessment.
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European Parliament greenlights clean cohesion policy
Press release | 13 February, 2019Today the members of the European Parliament adopted the Common Provisions Regulation, which sets the principles and common rules on how Cohesion Policy funding should be spent from 2021 to 2027. Civil society groups CEE Bankwatch Network and Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe welcome the agreed climate-friendly provisions, including the exclusion of fossil fuel investments, but they must be reflected in tomorrow’s vote on the Regional Development Fund in order to become reality.
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Case to the European Ombudsman calls out Commission for failing to protect Bulgaria’s biodiversity
Press release | 31 January, 2019Brussels / Sofia – the European Commission has been accused of failing to monitor how EU funds are being spent in Bulgaria, according to a complaint [1] filed to the European Ombudsman over the Commission’s handling of a motorway project that threatens a protected Natura 2000 site.
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Future EU funds for the regions set to become climate-proof
Press release | 22 January, 2019Brussels, for immediate release – Today the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI) adopted the so-called Common Provisions Regulation, which sets the conditions and principles governing the funding for Cohesion Policy from 2021 to 2027. NGO groups CEE Bankwatch Network and Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe welcome the regulation, which exceeds the European Commission’s proposal by introducing new and additional safeguards against climate change.
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Future EU investment package falls short of climate ambition
Press release | 16 January, 2019Strasbourg, Brussels – Today the European Parliament took a disappointing stance on climate when voting to approve the establishment of InvestEU, the EU’s financing tool to attract private investments – say NGO groups CEE Bankwatch Network, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, WWF European Policy Office, and Counter Balance. The approved investment package keeps the door open to further public investments in fossil fuels, which is incompatible with the requirements of the Paris Climate Agreement.
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State of play with the energy transformation in Romania
Blog entry | 13 December, 2018Europe’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development means that the EU must drive an energy transformation, but in Romania, inadequate financial support and a lack of political will still stand in the way of progress.
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Challenges of communicating the energy transformation in Latvia [Video]
Blog entry | 12 December, 2018Renewable energy has gotten a bad rap in Latvia. Since the construction of hydroelectric power stations during the Soviet era to the recent installment of the first wind parks and the country’s feed-in tarrif system, the ‘mandatory procurement scheme,’ renewables have been used for nefarious purposes like fuelling populism during election campaigns.
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In Slovakia, a shining example of EU funds for renewables and families
Blog entry | 11 December, 2018There is a sad joke in Slovakia that the country could become a museum for renewable energy sources (RES). Not because the Slovak physicist Aurel Stodola invented in 1928 the world’s oldest heat pump that still powers Geneva’s city hall, but because of its antiquated energy policy that lacks systematic support for renewables at the local and national levels.
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