European Commission

A highly problematic Danube dam project has found its way into the Slovak Operational Programme for the Cohesion Policy spending in the 2014-2020 period and has become a small scandal in the country.

The Partnership Agreement (the main strategic document underpinning the new Cohesion Policy) is the place to state not only intentions but commitments, yet the latter are missing in Slovakia's EU funds blueprint for now.

The Czech Republic's long-standing difficulties in realising major waste incinerator schemes via EU funds investments have taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks as the European Commission has poured cold water on the country's incineration plans, both as they apply to the 2007-2013 EU funding period and to the forthcoming 2014-2020 period now entering the final stages of negotiations.

Just a few weeks before leading international climate negotiations at the COP 19 in Warsaw, and in the face of the new IPCC report’s dire conclusions, the Polish government is again obstructing European emissions reduction ambitions.

A roundtable discussion on European public banks and energy lending brought together Members of the European Parliament and non-governmental organisations, while the public banks themselves chose to stay away.

The putting on hold (for now) of another waste incinerator project confirms a negative assessment of the Czech Republic's performance in waste management. And still, the Czech government fails to grasp that the only properly sustainable way forward is investment in recycling and waste reduction.

The case of two Enel investments in Romania illustrates how subsidies for coal power can be ambiguous, but provide very concrete disincentives for investments in renewable energy.