Azerbaijan’s crackdown on civil society must not be tolerated, international NGOs tell industry transparency body
October 25, 2016
The Azerbaijani government’s relentless repression of civil society should disqualify the country from participating in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), 18 international groups wrote in a letter sent on Thursday (October 20) to members of the EITI board.
Transparency: Much stays hidden
August 25, 2016
An initiative aimed at increasing the transparency of mining companies’ payments to governments across the globe has been slammed as paternalistic and ineffective by representatives of the people it was claimed to help. The extractive industries transparency initiative (EITI) was first announced by then UK prime minister Tony Blair at the world summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg in 2002. It was launched a year later, at a time when the entire developed world, led by Blair and pop stars Bono and Bob Geldof, seemed determined to save Africa from itself.
Ombudsman asks European Investment Bank to act on conflicts of interest issues
July 26, 2016
In a letter to the President of the European Investment Bank from July 22, the European Union’s Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has asked the bank to review its governance arrangements to help prevent potential conflicts of interest in the bank’s governing bodies.
MEP Pirinski: “The EIB should pay more attention to economic, social and territorial cohesion”
June 7, 2016
MEP Georgi Pirinski, rapporteur of the annual report on the European Investment Bank, shares his views on how to improve the way the bank operates.
Georgia swept by protests against EBRD-backed hydropower
May 11, 2016
Protests have in recent weeks broken out across rural Georgia after construction resumed on several large hydropower projects financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Demonstrators have complained that the projects were repeatedly decided behind closed doors, and that poor assessments of the social and environmental consequences mean their livelihoods are under threat.
Aid Transparency Index: improvements for Europe’s multilateral development banks but still a long way to go
April 13, 2016
As the 2016 Aid Transparency Review shows some improvement for the two main European lenders, they are still far from reaching satisfying transparency standards.
Complaint: non-compliance of the European Investment Bank’s Transparency Policy with EU and international law
February 16, 2016
This complaint, filed by Bankwatch, Client Earth and Counter Balance with the European Investment Bank’s complaint mechanism, addresses non-compliance of the European Investment Bank’s Transparency Policy with EU and international law on access to information.
Information on EIB loans to Volkswagen must be made public – letter to the EIB’s board of directors
November 12, 2015
In late September, shortly after news of VW’s emissions manipulation broke, CEE Bankwatch Network contacted the European Investment Bank (EIB) with a detailed request to disclose information about its immense support to VW Group. In view of the profound public interest in the case, the highly insufficient responses we have received so far are particularly disconcerting. In this letter, Bankwatch therefore asks the EIB’s board of directors to turn to the bank’s Management Committee for the public disclosure of information related to EIB loans for the Volkswagen Group.
Financing the post-2015 agenda – the problematic role of development banks
September 24, 2015
The heavy involvement of international financial institutions in the post-2015 development agenda raises serious questions for civil society around the world on whether the SDGs will manage to address the root causes of inequality, poverty and environmental degradation.
[Campaign update] Romanian government support for controversial power plant project to be made public, EBRD loan cancelled
September 9, 2015
Bankwatch’s Romanian chapter has been granted access to environmental information included in a letter sent by Romania’s Ministry of Economy in support of a loan from the Euoprean Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Oltenia Energy Complex (OEC), Bucharest’s administrative court ruled yesterday. The letter will shed light on the nature and extent of the government’s support for the project, and whether it was in line with EU regulations.
