participation

Before claiming the moral high ground on fighting corruption in Ukraine, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development should first of all brush up its own transparency policy and drop old-fashioned arguments in favour of confidentiality and secret conditionalities in its projects.

Facing criticism by the European Parliament of its progress on climate friendly energy sources, the Serbian government tells Bankwatch's member group that the future of the country's energy system is none of their business.

As the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development revises its safeguard policies, the Aid Transparency Index ranks its commitment to openness and transparency as the weakest in comparison with similar institutions.

Statements and behaviour of Georgian authorities show their determination to go ahead with the construction of the huge Khudoni dam that would displace more than 2000 indigenious Svans, regardless of public protests. At the same time the project company's set-up raises questions about ulterior motives.

In an open letter sent today to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 54 civil society organisations follow up from last weeks consultations on the bank's new energy sector strategy and ask the president to ensure that the EBRD addresses the challenges of climate change with the urgency it deserves. We reproduce the letter's content here.

With another public action, colleagues in Moscow are today bringing to a close a week that has seen the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development having to listen to a lot of uncomfortable truths.

With today’s approval of the watered down proposals to reform EU Structural Funds in the European Parliament’s committee for regional development (see our press release), EU decision makers have taken a step away from ambitious environmental spending in the future Cohesion Policy. At the same time also national level allocation of the 2014-2020 funds is starting to take shape. But efforts to get the funds working sustainably for, and on behalf of, needy local communities are being thwarted in Slovakia - for a range of all too familiar reasons.

So far the planning for Latvia’s use of the EU funds for the 2014-2020 period has been a reasonably positive experience from a partnership perspective. Yet the process that has, until recently, been notable for its transparency and high level of public participation is now in danger of being derailed.

In preparation to its extended lending to Arab Spring countries, the EBRD is conducting consultations with civil society. Yet the bank doesn't seem to make an appropriate effort.