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EU budget negotiations: a zero-sum game?
October 3, 2012
 | by Markus Trilling

The seven-year EU budget could unlock investment and jobs, but only if the shadow-boxing around the negotiating table ends now.

Cohesion Policy, EU budget, MFF
EU Funds
Energy & climate, Transport, Resource efficiency
Trust us, we're euphoric - Private equity and a tax haven part of the EBRD's first post-Arab Spring swoop
September 26, 2012
 | by Greig Aitken

For its first loan to 'Arab Spring' countries the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has chosen vehicles and partners whose ability to deliver developmental value is highly uncertain.

aid effectiveness, Arab spring, development, private equity, private sector, tax havens
EBRD
Social & economic impacts
Continued EU budget battle could sacrifice clean energy investments and clog economic recovery
September 25, 2012
 | by Ondrej Pasek

Continued debates about a reduction of the future EU budget jeopardise the potential of using EU funds for energy efficiency and renewables investments to provide necessary economic stimulus and climate mitigation.

climate action, Cohesion Policy, earmarking, energy efficiency, EU budget, EU regions, green investments, MFF, renewables
EU Funds
Energy & climate, Resource efficiency
The EBRD in Mongolia: Economic diversity is something else
September 18, 2012
 | by Vladlena Martsynkevych

Investment data for Mongolia illustrates that without improving the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s plans for the mining sector, the bank may add to the dependence on raw materials exports in resource rich countries.

coal, gold, local impacts, minerals, mining, water
EBRD
Social & economic impacts, Other harmful projects, Mining
Another case of alleged corruption in a CEE energy company
September 17, 2012
 | by Kuba Gogolewski

Alleged corruption at Poland’s second biggest state-owned energy company ENEA S.A. may compromise yet another project financed by European public banks.

corruption, ENEA, energy, Poland, privatisation
EBRD, EIB
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts
Another success against Czech incineration, government in blissful ignorance
August 29, 2012
 | by Ivo Kropacek

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.

Cohesion Policy, Czech Republic, European Commission, recycling, success, waste incineration
EU Funds
Resource efficiency
Money lost, safety postponed: On the mismanagement in Ukraine's energy sector
August 23, 2012
 | by Iryna Holovko

A recent audit showed that Ukraine lacks good management at least as much as finances to reform its energy sector. EU money is meanwhile siding with a tainted company.

EBRD, Energoatom, Euratom, lifetime, nuclear, safety, Ukraine
EBRD
Energy & climate
The devil in the details: Europe's low-carbon economy dream
August 17, 2012
 | by Miroslav Mojzis

The increasing popularity of a 'low-carbon economy' rhetoric calls for robust assessments of the carbon intensity of EU funded projects. Otherwise the potential that lies in the concept may get diluted by conflicting interests.

carbon footprint, climate action, corporate influence, fossil fuels, green economy
EU Funds
Energy & climate, Resource efficiency
What goes around, comes around: Portugal's debt boomerangs back on public-private partnerships
August 10, 2012
 | by Sven Haertig-Tokarz

Europe's anti-crisis measures include efforts to increase private investments in public infrastructure. Yet, a backlash against public-private partnerships in Portugal is a warning against putting too much faith in this approach.

austerity, corporate influence, corporations, crisis, eurozone, PFI, PPP, public debt
EIB
Spot the difference: Alstom in Indonesia and Slovenia
July 31, 2012
 | by Piotr Trzaskowski

The company hired to build a new unit at the Sostanj lignite power plant is involved in strikingly similar corruption cases across continents.

Alstom, coal, corruption, due dilligence, fossil fuels, Sostanj, transparency
EBRD, EIB
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts

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