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Legal complaint lodged to save protected Bulgarian Gorge from destructive motorway

Brussels/Sofia, July 6th – A legal complaint submitted today to the European Commission by NGOs [1] alleges that the construction of a controversial EU-funded motorway is already breaking EU nature laws, and warns that completing the final section through Kresna Gorge nature reserve would be catastrophic for protected animals and plants in the region. [2] The complaint calls on the Commission to investigate breaches of EU law, and could result in the Bulgarian government being taken to the European Court of Justice, and hefty fines.

The 16km-long Kresna Gorge is the most biodiverse region in Bulgaria, home to 92 protected species, and part of the EU’s Natura 2000 network of protected areas. More species of butterfly live in one square kilometre of Kresna Gorge than in all of the UK.

Two good alternatives exist to complete the E79 highway, which links Germany with Bulgaria and Greece, without disturbing the protected Gorge and in compliance with EU legislation, according to NGO experts. [3]

However in April, the Bulgarian Government announced designs to build half of the Struma Motorway through the Gorge. [4] NGOs assess that this would irreversibly damage the nature haven and would breach EU nature laws. [5]

The Bulgarian government has already pressed ahead with construction of the motorway at either end of the Gorge, funnelling extra traffic through it. The legal complaint notes that this breaches the EU Habitats Directive on two counts, and has already led to an increase in road killings and population decline of a number of protected species. [5]

Desislava Stoyanova, campaigner at Za Zemiata/Friends of the Earth Bulgaria said:

The Bulgarian government has two good options to prevent our richest nature site from being destroyed, but seems set on senselessly ploughing ahead and wiping out Kresna’s wildlife. The European Commission has no choice now but to seriously consider the case and block Bulgaria from using EU funds to break EU laws.

In December, the European Commission publicly committed to better implementing its nature laws. [7]

Robbie Blake, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said:

Kresna Gorge is a jewel of European nature, and needlessly destroying it with a motorway would be a crime. In April this year, EC environment chief Karmenu Vella promised to step up implementation of our vital EU nature protection laws, and how he acts on Kresna Gorge will put him to the test. This is a clear-cut case: either he intervenes, or his commitment to putting our nature laws into practice will just be empty words.

A final decision has not yet been made on which route to take, with the results of a new Environmental Impact Assessment expected in the next few months. The local community and the wider Bulgarian public then will be able to express their views on this, and it will have to be approved by the EU Commission. If the Commission or European Court of Justice find that the project has breached EU nature laws, the Bulgarian government risks having to pay back some or all of the EU grant of just over €750 million.

For more information, please contact:

Ivaylo Hlebarov, Za Zemiata/Friends of the Earth Bulgaria: i.hlebarov@zazemiata.org,+359 898 252303

Andrey Kovatchev, Balkani Wildlife Society, kovatchev6@gmail.com, + 359 887 788218

Anelia Stefanova, programme director at CEE Bankwatch Network: anelias@bankwatch.org, +39 333 809 24 92

Robbie Blake, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe: robbie.blake@foeeurope.org, +32 491 290096

Notes for the editors

[1] The NGOs party to the complaint are: Friends of the Earth Europe, CEE Bankwatch Network, Za Zemiata/Friends of the Earth Bulgaria, BALKANI Wildlife Society, Green Policy Institute, Centre for Environmental Information and Education, School for Nature Vlahi.

[2] The E79 Struma motorway is part of the Trans-European Corridor 4 linking Hamburg (Germany) with Sofia (Bulgaria) and Thessaloniki (Greece). Kresna gorge is a Natura 2000 site, protected by the Habitats Directive.

The full complaint is available at https://bankwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/complaint-EC-Kresna-06Jul2017.pdf

A summary of the complaint is available at https://bankwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/complaint-summary-EC-Kresna-06Jul2017.pdf

[3] See map: https://cloud.foeeurope.org/index.php/s/CKVu7jRZm88MJzL

[4] Bulgarian Road Infrastructure Agency announcement: “The Proposal of Patproject 2000 Ltd. is Ranked First in the Competition for Elaboration of an Extended Conceptual Design of Struma Motorway in the Krupnik – Kresna Section”, 20.04.2017, http://www.api.bg/index.php/en/prescentar/novini/proposal-patproject-2000-ltd-ranked-first-competition-elaboration-extended-conceptual-design-struma-motorway-krupnik–kresna-sec/

[5] In 2008, the ‘Appropriate Assessment’ for the Struma Motorway project, endorsed by the European Commission, deemed that any motorway construction in the Gorge and the option to maintain the current road for international traffic (the so-called zero option) is not in compliance with the EU Habitats Directive because of the detrimental and unavoidable impacts on the protected biodiversity. The legally agreed conclusion was to route all motorway traffic outside of the Gorge by means of a bypass or a tunnel.

[6] The damage that has already occurred comes as a result of increased traffic brought on by construction at both ends of the Gorge, creating a bottleneck. Species in observed decline include land tortoises, Leopard and four-lined snakes, 12 species of bats. Comparative monitoring reports for a 10-year period suggest that some of the species, such as the four-lined snake, could have even possibly extinct from the site. The populations of other small species living along the Gorge and the existing road have experienced decreases between 50 and 93 percent.

[7] http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1112_en.htm

EU urged to honour Paris Agreement, withdraw support for gas mega-pipeline

Brussels, Belgium — In an open letter released today, climate scientists, indigenous leaders, environmental and social justice groups, actors and artists call on the European Union to immediately withdraw its support for a gas mega-pipeline that would ‘destroy Europe’s climate targets’.

While European leaders criticised the United States for pulling out of the Paris Agreement, the letter points to Europe’s failure to honour the accord by supporting fossil fuel projects such as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP):

Instead of rapidly reducing emissions as the Paris Agreement demands, TAP would lock Europe into fossil fuels for decades. Given that existing fossil fuel operations already exceed the carbon budget left to avoid catastrophic, irreversible changes to our climate, there is no justification for new fossil fuel infrastructure, especially on the scale of the Southern Gas Corridor.

The signatories of the letter including renowned climate scientist James Hansen, actor Mark Ruffalo, authors Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein as well as Italian hip hop group 99 posse, call on the European Commission to withdraw its support for the pipeline. They also urge the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) that are considering financing the project to refrain from providing taxpayer-funded financial backing for the project.

Internationally recognised scientist Johan Rockström, director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, endorsed the call of the letter, saying:

A roadmap to meet the Paris Agreement of staying ‘well below 2°C’ will require halving global emissions every decade. Ramping up investment in fossil fuel infrastructure such as the TAP is inconsistent with the science of 2°C and therefore inconsistent with a goal of attempting to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change.

TAP is part of the EU’s energy flagship project Southern Gas Corridor, a system of mega-pipelines scheduled to start operating in 2020 and bring 10 billion cubic metres of gas from Azerbaijan to Europe a year. Construction works in Southern Italy were met with fierce resistance. [1] Thousands of local residents came to the site every day to block the operations. The battle is expected to continue when the works are attempted to be resumed again at the end of the tourism season.

For more information, contact:

Elena Gerebizza, Energy Campaigner Re:Common, egerebizza@recommon.org, +39 340 670 53 19

Adriana Paradiso, Counter Balance, adriana.paradiso@counter-balance.org, + 32 4 655 768 76

Melanie Mattauch, 350.org, melanie@350.org, +49 151 5812 0184

Photos of the struggle against the TAP in Southern Italy are available here.

Notes to editors

[1] For an overview about the struggle against the construction of the TAP in Southern Italy, see 350.org: Local residents in Salento resist mega-pipeline and Counter Balance: Italian communities block pipeline works to save ancient olive trees for a more detailed account.

[2] People across the world are invited to add their names to the open letter at 350.org/no-tap-letter

 

Image (c) Alessandra Tomassi

Commission pitch for Europe’s future funding must be a People’s Budget

Brussels – In advance of Wednesday’s release by the European Commission of a reflection paper on the future of Europe’s finances, a growing movement of civil society across Europe has launched its own call for a reformed EU budget that unlocks a positive, people-centered and sustainable future for a new Europe.

Coinciding with the publication of the Commission’s reflection paper, the People’s Budget [1] campaign calls for a rethink of the EU budget [2] to guide a sixth scenario for Europe, and demands that citizens and civil society be allowed into the Future of Europe debate, which is currently happening behind closed doors.

The launch of People’s Budget provides input [3] to the last piece of President Juncker’s White Paper on the Future of Europe [4], which should provide a first look at the possible financing arrangements for the five scenarios outlined by the Commission in March for the future of the European Union.

With none of the five scenarios from the Commission’s March White Paper addressing citizens or the root problems facing Europe, more than 250 organisations released a sixth scenario [5] last week, endorsed by the People’s Budget, to outline a Europe based on principles of democratic participation, reversing inequalities, and placing sustainable well-being at the very heart of the European project.

For CEE Bankwatch Network, David Holyoake said,

The EU budget is a sort of mirror of the European project, what and who it values and ignores. Around 11 per cent of Europeans are affected by energy poverty, and the EU budget does very little about it. An innovative EU budget would mean a greater number of ordinary households and communities can access finance for priorities such as the clean energy transformation. Through genuinely involving citizens in EU spending towards a brighter future, the Commission has golden opportunities to rebuild common dreams and a sense of ownership in the EU project.

For SDG Watch Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe, Leida Rijnhout, said:

The European Union needs a bold vision for the future that puts social and environmental wellbeing at the core – and it needs a budget to match. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development should be absolutely key for a future that serves people and the planet, not vested interests. After the European Commission’s lacklustre five scenarios, more than 250 organisations from across Europe are backing a sixth scenario of a Europe which stands for peace, justice, long term sustainability, and wellbeing for all.

Klara Hajdu of CEEweb for Biodiversity said:

Meaningful reform of the EU budget reform is not easy and involves more than simply throwing money at the causes of poverty and climate change. We need a new approach, based on a set of sustainability principles [6], that ensures all EU spending and lending delivers tangible benefits for people and improves or does not harm the environment. We need the right tools for this and so we call for sustainability proofing the future budget in a stepwise process with a clearly defined methodology.

For more information contact

David Holyoake, CEE BankWatch Network
david.holyoake@bankwatch.org
+32 470 36 98 17

Leida Rijnhout, Friends of the Earth Europe/SDG Watch Europe
Leida.Rijnhout@foeeurope.org
+32 494 89 30 52

Klara Hajdu, CEEweb for Biodiversity
hajdu@ceeweb.org
+36 20 3889437

Notes

[1]  www.PeoplesBudget.eu a full recording of today’s launch briefing can be found online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvMnVU_wcq8

[2] An integral component of the reflection paper will be the EU’s long-term budget – also known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – which defines the EU’s spending priorities over a seven-year period. Preparations for the next MFF beyond 2020 are underway, with a proposal for the next MFF expected before the end of 2017.

[3] See more information about our vision for a reformed budget with illustrative examples and some key policy asks from campaign partners http://www.peoplesbudget.eu/wp/wp-content/uploads/Sustainability-principles-explained.docx

[4] More information about the Future of Europe process if available at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/white-paper-future-europe/white-paper-future-europe-five-scenarios_en

[5] More information is available here: http://www.foeeurope.org/Over-250-NGOs-launch-alternative-vision-Europe-200617

[6] Sustainability principles for the future EU budget endorsed by SDG Watch Europe: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/09175c_4ebc89cfca2444e7953c576dfc393fa5.pdf

Over 250 non-government organisations launch alternative vision for Europe

Brussels, June 20, 2017 – More than 250 non-government organisations from across Europe have today released an alternative vision for a more democratic, just and sustainable Europe. [1]

INVITATION: Online press briefing, Tuesday June 27, at 10.00, with speakers from a new campaign about rethinking the future EU budget to advance ‘Scenario 6: Sustainable Europe for its Citizens’. Join at: https://bankwatch.org/events/PeoplesBudget – More information below.

Intended to influence the debate on the future direction of Europe, this alternative vision is endorsed by organisations representing a multitude of public interest issues, including labour rights, culture, development, environment, health, women’s rights, youth, and anti-discrimination groups.

It comes ahead of a summit of EU leaders this week with key issues for Europe’s future on the agenda, including migration, security, jobs and Brexit. This week also marks the one year anniversary of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union (June 23) which propelled questions about the future of Europe up the political agenda.

The vision describes a future for Europe in which “sustainability sits firmly at the heart of the European project,” and the EU focuses on “democracy and participation, social and environmental justice, solidarity and sustainability, respect for the rule of law, and human rights both within Europe and around the globe”.

The organisations are putting this scenario forward as an alternative to proposals from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, including five ‘Future of Europe’ scenarios which are currently being consulted on with member states with first conclusions due at the end of the year. [2]

For SDG Watch Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe, Leida Rijnhout, said:

The five scenarios for the future of Europe put forward by President Juncker are all deeply disappointing and have little connection to the challenges that the European Union faces. Instead we need a bold vision – an alternative sixth scenario – that puts social and environmental wellbeing at the core. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development should be absolutely key for a future that serves people and the planet, not vested interests.

General Secretary of EPSU (European Public Service Union), Jan Willem Goudriaan, said:

Public services and decent work are key ingredients for a fairer, more cohesive and sustainable Europe. Everyone benefits from investment in, for example, high quality public healthcare, social services, education, and environmental services. Rather than liberalising public services for the benefit of the few, Europe should develop a proactive strategy to strengthen public investment and democratic accountability in the provision of quality public services for all.

Director of CEE Bankwatch Network, Petr Hlobil, added:

There is a crisis of imagination in Brussels. Reforming the EU Budget holds part of the key to unlocking a progressive and inspiring new vision for Europe. Innovating in how we involve citizens and civil society in EU spending to build flourishing, sustainable futures, and designing EU finance to create more equal societies through this great transition to sustainable well-being, hold the highest potential to reconnect people with the European project.

Secretary General of the European Public Health Alliance, Nina Renshaw, said:

We are all living healthier lives today thanks to the EU, but it is only through their continued action that we can tackle cross-border health challenges like antimicrobial resistance and make sure we have a healthy population to unlock the full potential of social and economic policies. 70% of Europeans want the EU to do more on health – yet their voices go unheard. The debate on the future of Europe is an unmissable opportunity to put better health at the heart of all policies, ensure stronger protection for patients and consumers and better access to healthcare, which will make a huge difference to all of us.

Notes:

[1] 256 organisations are supporting ‘Scenario 6: Sustainable Europe for its Citizens’, see:
http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/other/2017/sustainable-europe-for-citizens-6th-scenario.pdf

[2] The European Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe is available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/white_paper_on_the_future_of_europe_en.pdf

For more information please contact:

Friends of the Earth Europe/SDG Watch Europe:
Leida Rijnhout
Leida.Rijnhout@foeeurope.org
+32 494 89 30 52

EPSU:
Jan Willem Goudriaan
jwgoudriaan@epsu.org
+32 475 25 69 12

EPHA:
Giulia Vettorem
giulia@epha.org
+32 2 233 38 84

CEE Bankwatch Network:
David Holyoake
david.holyoake@bankwatch.org
+32 470 36 98 17


Media invitation

CEE Bankwatch Network, CEEweb for Biodiversity, Friends of the Earth Europe and SDG Watch Europe invite you to an online press briefing: Rethinking the future EU budget to advance a scenario six for Europe

When: Tuesday 27 June 10:00-11:00 CET

Where: More information and live-streaming of the briefing at https://bankwatch.org/events/PeoplesBudget

People’s movements and civil society dismayed at AIIB Energy Sector Strategy

JEJU, SOUTH KOREA. Grassroots movements, non-government organizations and civil society networks across Asia and the rest of the world expressed “strong disappointment and disagreement” today to the Energy Sector Strategy of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which is holding its 2nd Annual Board of Governors Meeting in Jeju, South Korea.

The groups met at the Benikea Hotel in Jeju from June 13 to 15 to agree on their analysis of the AIIB Energy Sector Strategy paper. They are attending as official delegates from CSOs and NGOs to the AIIB Board of Governors meeting.

Disappointed for still allowing coal financing

Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) said, “We welcome the fact that we were invited to submit our proposals and concerns during the process of drafting the bank’s Energy Sector Strategy. But we are disappointed to and disagree with the Energy Sector Strategy paper for still allowing coal financing. While it qualifies the conditions under which coal projects can be financed by the AIIB, the circumstances described still leaves the door wide open for coal support”.

“The deeply harmful impacts of coal mining and coal power plans on communities and the environment are undeniable and well-documented.  Coal power’s huge contribution to the escalation of the climate crisis is well-established and widely acknowledged.  It is in direct contradiction to AIIB’s avowed commitment to sustainable development and the Paris Agreement which expresses a goal of keeping temperature rise below 1.5 degrees,” Rayyan Hassan of the NGO Forum on ADB clarified.

Clean coal is unacceptable

Sreedhar Ramamurthi, managing trustee of India’s Environics Trust expounded, “The problem of energy poverty still affects hundreds of millions of people in the region. Governments have used this as justification to expand the coal power industry – referring to coal as the quickest and cheapest solution to the problem of energy access.  This is not an acceptable argument. Neither is it acceptable to present “clean coal technologies” as the alternative to old and obsolete coal technologies.  There is no longer any excuse not to directly shift to renewable energy systems, which have already become more economically and financially feasible alternatives as evidenced by experiences in many countries including China and India”.

Wawa Wang, public finance officer of Bankwatch cited that last month, the costs for solar in India hit another record low, at US$37/MWh. It dropped by an astonishing 45% since January 2016 its last recorded lowest price. Proposals for new coal-fired power plants are now being abandoned as they could no longer compete with solar prices.

“Likewise, we disagree with AIIB supporting large hydro systems such as Nenskra hydropower in Georgia, which is in the Bank’s pipeline to be decided upon on September. For decades communities in Asia have resisted these projects for their devastating social and environmental impacts,” Wang furthered.

Green Bank for Swift and Just Transition from Dirty Energy

Antonio Tricarico of Re:Common, formerly with the Campaign to Reform the World Bank (CRBM) concluded, “The AIIB, if it is to be true to its claims as a “green bank,” must marshal its resources to support a swift and just transition to renewable and clean energy systems for people and communities of Asia, and put an end to fossil fuels and other harmful energy as soon as possible.  Our people and planet deserve no less.”

For interviews, contact:

Lidy Nacpil (lnacpil@gmail.com)

Sreedhar Ramamurthi (environics@gmail.com)

Antonio Tricarico (atricarico@recommon.org)

Rayyan Hassan (rayyan@forum-adb.org)

Wawa Wang (wawa.wang@bankwatch.org)

Planned coal power in the Balkans will breach new EU pollution standards – analysis

Almost none of the new coal power plants planned in the Western Balkans will meet new, stricter EU pollution standards, according to a new analysis by CEE Bankwatch Network, released today.

The analysis is available at https://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/BREF-Balkan-coal-14Jun2017.pdf

On 28 April this year, EU officials adopted new technical standards for large combustion plants, the so-called ‘LCP BREF’, (1) which sets out the best available techniques for controlling pollution to air, water and soil, as well as the emission limits that must be achieved by applying these techniques.

Bankwatch’s analysis (2) looks at eight coal-fired units totalling 2.6 GW in capacity planned in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, (3) plus the Stanari plant in Bosnia-Herzegovina which started commercial operation last September. Compared to the air pollution limits set in the BREF, five of the planned units would certainly not meet the new standards, while insufficient information is available for the remaining three.

Non-compliance is a problem not only for countries seeking EU accession – as these countries would be required to adopt EU law – but also for compliance with domestic legislation. Most governments in the Western Balkans have already adopted legislation stating that the EU’s LCP BREF is to be used as the basis for permitting new coal projects, so these standards must be applied to new plants as soon as they enter force in the EU later this year.

“Of course project promoters will be reluctant to cause delays to their projects by undertaking reviews and taking measures to bring them into line with the new LCP BREF, but failing to do so now will cost them dearly later. The additional costs that the new standards would entail are but the latest warning sign for governments that coal is fast becoming an unbearable liability”, said Pippa Gallop, Bankwatch’s research co-ordinator and author of the briefing.

“Now that electricity companies in the Western Balkans are obliged to adhere to EU market rules, they must do much more to make sure their investments are financially viable and future-proof,” added Ioana Ciuta, Bankwatch Energy Co-ordinator. “They can no longer just go and ask the state for money for additional funds for investment or push legal implementation deadlines ever-further into the future. They need to start looking ahead and examining whether their plans are going to land them in trouble in a few years”.

Contacts

Pippa Gallop
Research Co-ordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org
+385 99 755 9787
Skype: pippa.gallop

Ioana Ciuta
Energy Co-ordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
ioana.ciuta@bankwatch.org
+40 724 020 281
Twitter: @unaltuser

Notes

(1) For the decision and the annex containing the standards, see http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regcomitology/index.cfm?do=search.documentdetail&Dos_ID=14177&DS_ID=50159&Version=1

(2) The analysis is available at https://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/BREF-Balkan-coal-14Jun2017.pdf

(3) The planned plants are:

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Tuzla 7, Banovići, Ugljevik III units 1 and 2
Kosovo: Kosova e Re
Macedonia: Oslomej reconstruction
Montenegro: Pljevlja II
Serbia: Kostolac B3

More plants are planned across the region but are at a less advanced stage of preparation.