Counter Balance

MEPs to vote on new loan in April. Tunisia is already paying more to its Western creditors than it receives in loans and grants, and almost all of the new loan would be used for debt repayments. Civil society groups from Tunisia and Europe are urging the European Parliament to concentrate on debt relief instead […]

The current review of the European Investment Bank’s mandate for lending outside of the EU brings some of the pitfalls of the bank’s development lending to the fore and offers a chance for improvements. “The European Investment Bank is not a development bank, it is an investment bank designed to support EU policies, including external […]

Strasbourg – The European Parliament adopted the Bütikofer report (1) on the Commission’s Raw Materials Initiative today. The report calls for strict standards and transparency in mining activities and the need for development in the host country. It specifically asks the European Investment Bank (EIB), which has a record of supporting controversial mining projects on […]

BRUSSELS – In an open letter addressed to the EU president, the EU presidency and the European commission, 50 MEPs from 4 different political parties (S&D, Greens, Gue/Nordic Left and ALDE) call for “a moratorium on EU public financing for mining projects until adequate standards and regulations are in place.” “The added value of mining […]

Short summary of Nigerian case study to be presented: “In poor countries [corruption] can kill. Money meant for drugs for a sick child, or to build a hospital, can be siphoned off into overseas bank accounts or to build a luxury house”, Hilary Benn, former UK Secretary of State for International Development Through a private […]

Strasbourg – Voting today on the 2009 annual report of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Parliament (EP) has called on the bank to „bring its operations fully into line with an EU objective of a swift transition to a low-carbon economy and to adopt a plan for the phase-out of fossil fuel lending.” […]

On February 17th, the European Parliament voted on the conditions for the European Investment Bank (EIB) to lend outside the European Union until the end of the current framework (2007-2013)*. With a vast majority the Parliament called for transforming the EIB into a more democratic, transparent and accountable institution but at the same time it […]

On Thursday the European Parliament votes for the first time on the reviewed mandate of the European Investment Bank (EIB) to lend outside of the EU. The EIB lends EUR 10 billion outside of the EU, but its last mandate to do so was struck down by the European Court of Justice, in part because […]

Counter Balance input to the European Parliament in the run-up to the discussion of EIB Annual Report 2007. Read it here

Has the EIB changed over the last 50 years? What are the global challenges for the EIB and are its lending practices coherent with EU policy objectives? These were the questions tackled by the first panel of speakers at the European Parliament debate on July 1. The EIB is a very important institution and its […]