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Risks for coal and electricity investments in the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova due to state-aid rules

Study | 8 June, 2015 | Download PDF

By signing the Energy Community Treaty in 2005, countries in the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova agreed that the European Union’s competition rules are to be applied also within their territory. A number of energy sector investments are being planned that may not so far have taken adequate account of State aid rules. This briefing therefore provides a summary to draw attention to relevant requirements of EU law and highlight the risks of failure to take them into account when planning investments. The account when planning investments.

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Jordan’s modern mirage: reporting from the Red Sea – Dead Sea Conveyance project

Study | 3 June, 2015 | Download PDF

In November 2014 CEE Bankwatch Network visited Jordan to explore issues surrounding the Red Sea – Dead Sea Conveyance project. The aim of the mission was to understand better the problems, concerns and hopes of local communities living along the route of the project, and identify the risks and benefits of the project through interviews with specialists having knowledge of its development.

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Better results and smoother uptake – guarantee partners’ involvement during EU funds implementation and monitoring

Policy comments | 1 June, 2015 | Download PDF

Despite some shortcomings of partners’ involvement during the Programming of the EU funds for 2014-2020, environmental partners could significantly improve the mainstreaming of environmental protection requirements throughout Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes. It is now all the more important to ensure partners can contribute during the implementation and monitoring of EU regional development funding. This paper offers practical suggestions to strengthen the role of civil society: Enable timely access to all relevant information,

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Reflections on biodiversity offsetting in Mongolia

Briefing | 25 May, 2015 | Download PDF

A fact-finding mission in April 2015 to Mongolia identified serious concerns regarding the implementation of the new Mongolian Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation – in particular the specific provision on biodiversity offsetting. Oyu Tolgoi (OT), the largest mining investment ever licensed in Mongolia, has been the first project to include a biodiversity offset action in its EIA and related biodiversity management plan.

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European Fund for Strategic Investments: Legal requirements to ensure additionality and added-value of EFSI operations

Briefing | 15 May, 2015 | Download PDF

The first four projects that the European Investment Bank announced for financing under President Juncker’s EUR 315 billion investment initiative, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), reveal the structural inconsistencies of both the EFSI legal set-up and the EIB procedures themselves. For the time being there is no genuine guarantee about the additionality of EFSI financing and added-value to EU’s long-term economic development objectives, in particular the multiple dividends of a decarbonised and decentralised energy system with substantial energy savings at its heart.

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