Asleep at the wheel – Ford cuts jobs in Europe, the EU’s bank delivers for Ford in Turkey
December 14, 2012
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has come under fire in recent weeks thanks to a loan granted to Ford Europe. The EU’s bank signed off on a EUR 200 million loan to the car giant for the company’s relocation of production to Turkey not long after Ford Europe announced the shutdown of its production sites in Genk, Belgium, and Southampton in England.
Europe’s PPP crisis – European Commission and EIB magic up the ‘project bonds’ elixir
December 14, 2012
Although public authorities appear increasingly to be turning their backs on public-private partnerships (PPPs) for delivery of services and the provision of infrastructure, the beleaguered investment vehicle continues to be aggressively promoted by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB). An official in-depth evaluation of this financing model, however, remains long overdue.
Never a dull moment in Slovene power plant soap opera
December 14, 2012
On November 30, the same day as the national government was under fire in the most heated protests Slovenia has seen in years, Slovenia’s ministers of finance and infrastructure added fuel to the flames by signing contracts with Simon Tot, director of the Sostanj lignite power plant for the controversial EUR 1.3 billion Sostanj Unit 6. These contracts prepare the ground for the signing of a state guarantee contract for a EUR 440 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the project.
Connecting Europe Facility – connecting who, and what, exactly?
December 14, 2012
The economic crisis has accelerated the development of new financial instruments for the next EU budget period in 2014-2020. The main intention behind these instruments is to deliver substantial levels of new investment money from increasingly limited public resources in order to plot a path towards Europe’s economic recovery.
Contest for citizens ideas for a better EU budget – awarded projects
December 14, 2012
Bankwatch’s Better Ideas competition invited ideas for projects could be financed by EU funds and that best contribute to the sustainable development in people’s communities. These are the winning projects in each of the participating countries.
Financial alchemy in Slovenia’s energy sector still results in lignite, not gold
December 11, 2012
Even with the latest investment plan for unit 6 at the Sostanj lignite power plant (TES 6), the project’s economics are (surprise, surprise) still distinctly shaky as an independent analysis shows. Nonetheless, the project looks ever more likely to get a state guarantee from the Slovene government.
Dirty coal gets closer to receiving almost half a billion euros from EU taxpayers
December 3, 2012
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is gearing up to pay 440 million euros to a new 600 MW lignite plant in Slovenia at a time when calls for an end to subsidies for fossil fuels are intensifying all over the world.
Leading MEP calls for EU climate security envoy
November 26, 2012
Senior British MEP Graham Watson has called for the creation of an EU special representative on climate security.
EU parliament president calls for ‘properly funded’ budget
November 26, 2012
EU policymakers and NGOs have given a mixed reaction to the dramatic collapse of last week’s summit of EU leaders and heads of state.
Collapse of EU budget talks short-changes people and planet
November 23, 2012
With todays collapse of negotiations at the EU budget summit in Brussels, environment groups CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe called on countries to focus their efforts on agreeing a deal in the new year that has quality EU spending [1] at the top of the agenda.
