Southern Mediterranean

The first instance of shale gas extraction with hydraulic fracturing in Tunisia took place in March 2010 and since then Tunisia actively supports this method. Former prime minister Mehdi Jomaa (who once worked for a subsidiary of oil company Total) said in September 2014 that his government is determined to explore shale gas and that critics will not stop Tunisia pursuing its extraction.

New analysis from CEE Bankwatch Network of how the EBRD conducts its financing and economic advisory activities finds serious deficiencies in the bank's overall 'market-oriented' approach and catalogues a range of startling EBRD interventions in central and eastern Europe (CEE) and further afield that should prompt deeper examination of the bank's promotional mantra “We invest in changing lives”.

The EBRD's board of directors is expected, on the eve of the bank's annual meeting in Warsaw, to approve new 'good governance' policies that will have significant bearing on the institution's future activities. The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy, its Public Information Policy and the Rules of Procedure for the EBRD Project Complaints Mechanism have been the feature of multi-stakeholder consultations across the EBRD's regions of operation in 2013 and into 2014.

What began as research into Serinus Energy EBRD loans that were granted to the company in July 2013 for the exploration and expansion of oil and gas fields in the Chouech Essaida, Ech Chouech, Sabria, Sanrhara and Zinnia concessions in Tunisia, has become a story that reflects both the revolving doors culture that permeates elite circles and how the EBRD is able to provide loans that provide absolutely no additionality.

In what is shaping up to be another controversial chapter in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's already troubled entry into Egypt in 2012, questions are being asked of the international financial institution as to whether it intends to support coal power financing, specifically to assist Egypt's cement industry.

Harsh, embedded economic realities such as widespread, high unemployment across central and eastern Europe, as well as the discernible trend of democratic retrenchment in several EBRD recipient countries, are resulting in very mixed feelings about the transition process in this year of important anniversaries. This new analysis of how the EBRD conducts its financing and economic advisory activities finds serious deficiencies in the bank's overall 'market-oriented' approach and catalogues a range of startling EBRD interventions.