LIFE for nature: Why Europe’s flagship environmental programme must remain part of the next EU budget
June 26, 2025
Our publication showcases successful LIFE-funded projects from Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia and Slovenia. These inspiring examples demonstrate the programme’s positive impact on a wide range of ecosystems – and why it must continue to support nature in the next EU budget.
Electrification of Riga’s heat supply brings balance to national grid
June 24, 2025
Riga’s main heat supplier, RĪGAS SILTUMS, is taking steps to transform the city’s heat supply. Having recently implemented a major electrification project, the company is now exploring options to introduce a pioneering heat storage solution for the Latvian capital.
Navigating the complexities of EU funds: Bulgaria’s struggle
June 13, 2025
The mid-term review was intended as a mechanism to address implementation issues and reallocate resources to priority areas. In reality, however, it has taken a very different turn.
Vulnerable households at risk: Central and eastern European countries struggle to finalise national social climate plans
June 13, 2025
With just weeks to go before the European Commission’s deadline for national social climate plan submissions, a new analysis by E3G and Bankwatch reveals alarmingly uneven progress across central and eastern Europe. Examining the state of play in eight EU Member States, the report highlights persistent transparency gaps, weak stakeholder engagement, and protracted delays.
Climbing together: Is the Social Climate Fund working for those who need it most?
June 13, 2025
This report evaluates the quality of stakeholder involvement and the design of national social climate plans in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
Bulgaria’s opportunity to address energy and transport poverty: The Social Climate Fund challenge
June 4, 2025
The European Union’s Social Climate Fund presents Bulgaria – one of the EU’s poorest Member States – with a significant opportunity to tackle energy and transport poverty. Under this funding instrument, the country has been allocated a total of EUR 2.5 billion for the 2026–2032 period. However, concerns are mounting that weak planning, institutional resistance to reform, and a lack of transparency could prevent this funding from reaching the people who need it most.
CEE Bankwatch Network’s consultation response on the Connecting Europe Facility – Energy funding
June 3, 2025
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is meant to implement infrastructure projects which aim to strengthen trans-European energy, transport and digital networks.
From grassroots activism to fighting Goliath
June 2, 2025
From grassroots defiance to a force for accountability, Bankwatch’s story begins long before its founding in 1995. Amid collapsing regimes, our network channelled the energy of civil resistance into a brave new experiment in public oversight and transparency.
Joint NGO statement: New EU budget must ensure dedicated funds for environmental protection and just transition in the Western Balkans
May 28, 2025
68 civil society organisations have today issued a joint statement calling on the EU to ensure dedicated funds for environmental protection and just transition of coal-dependent regions in the Western Balkans in the post-2027 EU budget.
Joint NGO statement on the future of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) in the post-2027 EU budget
May 28, 2025
This joint statement signed by 68 civil society organisations calls on the EU to ensure dedicated funds for environmental protection and just transition of coal-dependent regions in the Western Balkans
