PRESS RELEASE - immediate release
June 3rd, 2003
ngos call on the european investment bank's
governors for substancial changes in
information policy. more transparency is
essential!
Luxembourg, June 3rd. Three 'monkeys of
truth' met EIB Governors
attending the Annual Meeting in the Bank's
headquarter in
Luxembourg this morning. The Monkeys,
covering respectively their
ears, eyes and mouth were sent to convey the
message: EIB – sees no
problem, hears no complaints, gives no
information. This action brings
to public’s attention the highly
non-transparent EIB behaviour and
need to reform the Bank. NGOs presented a
call to the Governors of the
Bank and President Maystadt asking for
greater efforts in fostering
timely and adequate access to information on
the bank's operations for
affected communities and the general public.
The call has been
supported by more than 100 NGOs from all
over the world.
Magda Stoczkiewicz, campaign coordinator
for CEE Bankwatch
Network/Friends of the Earth International,
explained: "EIB is a
public institution behaving like a private
entity from 50 years
ago. Its new information policy, which we
hoped would be an
important step towards the Bank's openness,
is filled with
"non-committal phrases" promising to release
information
"whenever possible" and "as early as
feasible". It does not
provide a solid basis for affected
communities or interested
public to execute their right to
information. “At the same time,”
continues Stoczkiewicz, “the Bank favours
the interests of its clients
over the interests of affected citizens.
Clients, including private
companies, decide if information about the
project they sought
financing for is released or not. This is
unacceptable."
In the call NGOs demand, among other
things, that the EIB ensures that
affected communities are adequately and
timely informed and consulted
before the approval of projects and
throughout the life of the
projects, that all relevant documents are
made public at least 60 days
before public consultations, and that the
EIB support only projects
that enjoy the demonstrable free and
previously informed consent of
all affected communities. The procedure in
which the EIB Board decides
about the loan prior to EIA process is also
unacceptable, say NGOs.
Another set of demands refers to ensuring
the transparency of the
Bank's internal procedures.
Peter Mihok from CEPA, a Slovakian member
group of CEE Bankwatch
network and Friends of the Earth, explains
the practical impacts
of the present EIB policy: "the EIB keeps on
refusing to release
the conditions of a 200 million Euro loan
that the Bank provided
to the Railways of the Slovak Republic in
1999, arguing that it
is up to the promoter and national
authorities to release it. At
the same time Slovak authorities point out
the provision of
business confidentiality that the EIB loan
agreement contains.
We, the affected citizens, feel as if we
live in a Kafka novel.”
The loan to Slovak Railways apparently
contains a set of
conditions detrimental to the railway
sector; such as the
dismantling of a part of regional
infrastructure, significant
cuts in public subsidies, and a planned
reduction in one third of
railway employees. Recent closures of a
number of regional lines has
already led to the first ever strike since
the fall of communist
regime. The EIB denies its responsibility in
the matter while at the
same time refusing to disclose the loan
agreement. Antonio Tricarico
from Campagna per la Riforma della Banca
Mondiale, Italy argues: "the
EIB should be a subject of the Aarhus
Convention on Access to
Information, Public Participation and Access
to Justice. However, due
to its dual status as an EU institution and
a bank, the EIB tries to
avoid that obligation. The European
Commission and Council should
ensure that the Bank is clearly bound by
Aarhus."
As the EIB originally did not plan to
organize its own press
conference for the occasion of its
Governors' gathering, NGOs
invited President Maystadt to join their
press conference and
inform the public about the outcomes of the
General Meeting.
However, the response which we received on
May 28th was negative,
informing NGOs that the President has other
important matters and that
a press release will be sufficient. On May
31st we found out from the
information on the EIB’s web site that the
Bank finally decided to
hold a press conference. "Good that the EIB
has reconsidered their
decision about the press conference. However
this is a good example of
a typical EIB behaviour, we need to have
clear rules on access to
information and documents in the Bank and
not leave it up to
someone’s changing mood as it is now” - sums
up Magda Stoczkiewicz.
Full text of the NGO call and list of
signatories is available
at: www.bankwatch.org
Pictures from the action are available at
www.bankwatch.org
For more information contact: Magda
Stoczkiewicz, mobile +31 652
41 03 23
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