EU neighbourhood

Ukraine snubs safety concerns and European donors, extends lifetime of fourth Soviet-era nuclear reactor

December 8, 2015

Kiev, Prague - An ageing nuclear unit in the South Ukraine power plant is the latest to have its expiry date rewritten by overzealous Ukrainian authorities, despite a number of pending safety issues and concerns over compliance with international treaties.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: nuclear safety, SNRIU, South Ukraine, CEE, EU neighbourhood

Macedonia urged to suspend controversial hydropower project

December 4, 2015

Strasbourg, Skopje, Prague - In the latest blow to planned hydropower dam in Macedonia's Mavrovo National Park, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention, the European wildlife treaty, added today its voice to growing calls to reconsider this reckless project. The spotlight is now on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the project's main financier.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Other harmful projects

Tags: Balkan lynx, biodiversity, Boskov Most, hydro, Mavrovo national park, Balkans, EU neighbourhood

Bern Convention Committee to decide fate of Balkan lynx and Boskov Most hydropower plant in Macedonia

The critically endangered population of the Balkan lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus) may be getting a new lease on life this week after being threatened by planned hydropower constructions in its core area of reproduction.

Tags: Balkan lynx Bern Convention biodiversity Boskov Most hydropower Balkans EU neighbourhood

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Other harmful projects

'No peaceful atom' film premier at One World festival in Slovakia

A Bankwatch film about Ukraine's nuclear sector and the controversial European public funding for it was premiered at the One World film festival in Slovakia.

Institution:

Theme: Development

Tags: highlight, EU, EU neighbourhood

Film premier: Winstar Wars explores south Tunisia's gas exploration region

Almost 40 years ago Star Wars was filmed in the south of Tunisia. For many this will be the only association with the country. The city of Tataouine – after which the planet Tatooine was named in George Lucas’ film – is not a touristic mecca, though. The capital of the largest region of Tunisia with 100 000 inhabitants has only 3 hotels which stand largely empty.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Development

Tags: highlight, shale gas, Tataouine, Winstar, EU neighbourhood, Southern Mediterranean

The EBRD: Fueling the future, or stuck in the past?

A closer look at the projects that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has financed in the energy sector in Middle East and North African countries reveals that, despite the bank's rhetoric about promoting sustainable energy, its balance sheet has fossil fuels all over it.

Tags: energy ENP-energy fossil fuels MENA neighbourhood policy EU neighbourhood Southern Mediterranean

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts

EU gives neighbours three times more funding for fossil fuels than renewables

November 19, 2015

Source: Jocelyn Timperley, BusinessGreen

Financing from the EU's development funds to its neighbours far higher for fossil fuels than for renewables, report finds

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: ENP-energy, European neighbourhood, fossil fuels, renewables, EU neighbourhood

‘EU geeft buurtlanden 3 keer meer financiering voor fossiel dan voor hernieuwbaar’

November 19, 2015

Source: Groene Courant, Groene Courant

UTRECHT – De Europese Unie geeft buurlanden 3 keer meer subsidie voor energieprojecten met fossiele brandstoffen dan voor groene-energieprojecten.

Dit stelt CCE Bankwatch Network, een Oost-Europese ngo die investeringen in groen en fossiel in de gaten houdt.

De organisatie keek naar investeringsovereenkomsten tussen Europese instituten en de energiesector van 16 aangrenzende landen van de EU.

In totaal financierde de Europese Unie 9 miljard euro aan energieprojecten bij buurlanden in het oosten en het zuiden tussen 2007 en 2014.
Retoriek

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: ENP-energy, European neighbourhood, fossil fuels, renewables, EU neighbourhood

Export finance in Slovakia - for coal, against sustainable development

Slovakia’s official stance in the upcoming climate negotiations in Paris Climate Summit is no progressive one. An argument often heard is that a small country like Slovakia plays only a little role. The handful of coal plants in Slovakia cannot “compete” with the CO2 emissions of economic giants like the United States or China. And we do not significantly contribute to migration caused by climate impacts. But that is not true.

Institution:

Theme: Energy & climate, Development

Tags: coal, Croatia, export credit agencies, highlight, Pljevlja, Slovakia, Turkey, EU, EU neighbourhood

Executive summary: European public money for the energy sector in countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy

Briefing | November 17, 2015

Countries of the European Neighbourhood have received a boost to their energy sectors in the last decade, thanks in part to the prominent role played by the EU as a catalyst of both policy reforms and financing. This paper is the executive summary of an upcoming study that examines EU financing for the energy sector in 16 countries of the European Neighbourhood between 2007 and 2014.

Institution: EU Funds, EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate