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Europe’s back is to the future: Bankwatch and Counter Balance statement on the first projects of the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI)

23 April, 2015

Yesterday the European Investment Bank announced the first four projects to be financed from the EUR 315 billion EFSI. These include EUR 303 million for health care research in Spain, a public-private partnership in the Irish health sector, the expansion of the Dubrovnik airport in Croatia and a nineteenth century Italian steel factory.

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Tax dodging, development and European public banks

22 April, 2015

A new report highlights how the weak taxation policy of the European Investment Bank is undermining its ability to serve public interest in Europe and the Global South at a time when the use of tax haven is exposed as one of the most important barriers to development.

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Guest post: Ombla must be protected, not flooded!

21 April, 2015

The project promoter of the Ombla hydropower plant in Dubrovnik, Croatia is still stubbornly pushing the project forward. A presentation yesterday of a new nature impact assessment did not offer answers to a range of outstanding questions, including the project’s economic feasibility, impacts on locals and more.

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Unpaid coal bill: Romanian coal exports to Serbia marred by corruption

21 April, 2015

A dodgy deal to export coal from Romania to Serbia has left the Romanian state-owned coal supplier with a potential seven million euros write-off.

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“Fight tax havens, start with the European Investment Bank”, argues new report

21 April, 2015

Counter Balance & Re:Common press release The European Investment Bank (EIB) was the first Development Financial Institution (DFI) to adopt a tax haven policy in 2009. However, more than five years on EIB money still runs via tax havens. A new report by Counter Balance and Re:Common* ‘Towards a Responsible Taxation Policy for the EIB’ which is launched today calls on the EU’s public bank to grasp the political momentum at EU level to prevent any public money from flowing through tax havens. Country by country reporting, identification of beneficial ownership and a workable list of non-compliant jurisdictions would be key ingredients of a real “Responsible Taxation Policy”.

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