Counter Balance

Strasbourg / Brussels, 13 December 2018 As governments discuss how to implement the Paris Climate Agreement at the COP24 in Katowice, today the Budget and Economic Affairs committees of the European Parliament failed to prevent further public investments in fossil fuels under InvestEU, the EU’s financing tool to attract private investments – say NGOs group […]

Brussels – Katowice – Prague, 11 December 2018 While confirming its plans to align with the Paris Agreement, the European Investment Bank (EIB) still continues to fund climate damaging fossil fuel projects, having disbursed more than EUR 11.8 billion in fossil fuels projects since 2013 – point out NGOs in a new briefing State delegations […]

Brussels, 13 November 2018 In a step backwards for the EU bank’s transparency and accountability, the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a controversial new policy for its Complaints Mechanism, a move that will take the bank further away from the communities affected by its operations – say NGOs. The decision […]

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 […]