Counter Balance

3 May 2018 Today, the European Parliament adopted a critical report on the activities of the financial arm of the EU – the European Investment Bank (EIB). This report reiterates previous calls for the bank to step up its sustainability, transparency and accountability. During the debate held in the plenary of the Parliament in Brussels, […]

Brussels, 3 April 2018 On the second anniversary of the Panama Papers and in the wake of the European Commission’s latest communication on EU anti-tax avoidance requirements on financing and investment operations, a new report by Counter Balance calls on the European Investment Bank (EIB) to develop a responsible policy and “show the way“ in […]

Published jointly with Eurodad Tuesday March 20 2018 The European Court of Auditors today slammed Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), stating that they were ‘not always effectively managed and did not provide adequate value-for-money’. The report, entitled “Public Private Partnerships in the EU: Widespread shortcomings and limited benefits” looks at PPPs in several EU countries. Inefficient spending […]

15 March 2018 Prague, Brussels, Rome, London – Today the board of directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) green-lighted a EUR 932 million loan to the Trans Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), the Turkish section of the Southern Gas Corridor, a month after handing out the largest ever fossil fuels loan to the western section of the […]

Press release: Counter Balance, CEE Bankwatch Network Brussels, 8 February 2018 The European Investment Bank (EIB) found itself in the spotlight during this week’s debates in the European Parliament. MEPs were called to give direction to the EU house bank’s development role through the amendment of its 2014-2020 external lending mandate. Today the European Parliament […]

CEE Bankwatch Network, Counter Balance, Friends of the Earth Europe, 350.org 6 February 2018 Prague, Brussels The European Investment Bank (EIB) voted today to hand out one of Europe’s largest ever loans to one of the EU’s largest fossil fuel projects, the contentious Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The loan approval follows the release of a […]