Balkan protests show need for more EU action on air pollution – new analyses
February 29, 2016
Thousands of people took to the streets of Skopje, Pljevlja, Tuzla and other cities across the Western Balkans in December to demand action on chronic air pollution plaguing their communities. A new briefing shows that to a large degree these recurring smog incidents are the result of national authorities’ protracted inaction. Yet, air quality could be dramatically improved if two EU directives are transposed into the Energy Community Treaty, according to two legal analyses also released today.
CSOs deliver over 16 000 signatures for a cleaner energy future in Tirana
October 16, 2015
Tirana, Albania – A group of CSOs from South East Europe (SEE) delivered over 16 000 petition signatures to Miguel Arias Cañete, EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action and Co-Chair of the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community today before its meeting in Tirana, Albania.
Joint reaction on the Energy Community’s Roadmap from CEE Bankwatch Network and Climate Action Network Europe
October 16, 2015
On Friday 16th October the Ministerial Council meeting in Tirana adopted a Roadmap on the future of the Energy Community.
[Campaign update] Petition to clean up southeast Europe’s energy system
September 7, 2015
By now regular readers of the Bankwatch blog will know that the energy system in southeast Europe is corrupt, dirty and inefficient. But we now have an opportunity to change it.
Coal fouls Balkans’ EU ambitions
August 28, 2015
The western Balkans aren’t buying in to the EU’s energy policies. The western Balkans are hoping to join the European Union one day, but governments across the region are investing in new coal-fired power plants at a time when the EU is championing renewables and energy efficiency.
The Western Balkans and the Energy Union: Will the EU address carbon lock-in beyond its borders?
August 27, 2015
The Energy Union must find ways to prevent state support for the production of fossil fuel energy by the European Union’s immediate neighbours. The EU cannot afford to have newly acceding members holding up progress towards the new 2030 climate goals or watering down future policy making.
Activists help put the brakes on Balkan hydro projects
August 27, 2015
Balkan governments are under mounting pressure to curb the construction of hydropower plants (HPPs) in national parks and wildlife areas, where hundreds of projects are planned or underway. Environmental campaigners have already scored successes in halting new HPPs. In late July, Croatia’s environment ministry rejected Hrvatska Elektroprivreda’s impact study for its 68-MW Ombla HPP near historic Dubrovnik, Courts in Republika Srpska (RS) have twice this year backed activists’ claims that environmental assessments on proposed plants in the Sutjeska National Park were flawed.
The Balkans Are Giving Climate Change the Finger
July 7, 2015
After just five hours visiting the tiny Serbian village of Vreoci, just outside the country’s capital, environmental activist Dragana Mileusnic developed a terrible cough. Vreoci is pincered between two rapidly expanding arms of the Kolubara coal mine, one of the largest in Europe, which churns out 22 million tons of coal per year — along with what Mileusnic calls “incredible” air pollution. Now the mine owner is resettling the entire village because coal dust, smog and respiratory disease have made life there unbearable.
Possible coal and energy State aid cases in Energy Community countries based on publicly accessible information
June 8, 2015
By signing the Energy Community Treaty in 2005, countries in the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova agreed to abide by the European Union’s competition rules. But a number of energy sector investments are being planned that may not so far have taken adequate account of state aid rules. This briefing includes case studies of projects from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine. See related materials including a more detail briefing, a press release and a slideshow at:
Illegal coal subsidies could cost south-east European countries dearly, warns new study
June 8, 2015
Prague – New investments in coal mines and power plants could cost the Western Balkans and Ukraine dearly if they fail to take into account binding rules on subsidies (State aid), according to a new briefing released today by CEE Bankwatch Network.
