Press release
Campagna per la Riforma della Banca
Mondiale
CEE Bankwatch Network
Friends of the Earth International
public funds for public benefit! new
n.g.o. campaign calls for profound changes to
e.u. house bank
Brussels, June 1st – On the eve of the
first European Investment Bank (EIB) annual
meeting following EU enlargement, an
international coalition of civil society
groups has published a strong wake-up call to
the EIB, the least transparent, least
accountable and least democratically
controlled of European Union and
international finance institutions.
“Public Funds for Public Benefit: Making
the European Investment Bank Support People
and the Environment” sets out a clear vision
for reforming the EIB into a positive
European source of public finance. [1] The
launch of this document sees the EIB campaign
coalition stepping up its public awareness
raising and advocacy efforts to ensure that
key reform steps are accepted and implemented
by the EIB.
With support from almost sixty of
international and national organizations and
networks, including Friends of the Earth
International, WWF Europe, and CEE Bankwatch,
“Public Funds for Public Benefit” calls on
the EIB to deliver the following:
-
transparency and access to
information,
-
a development mandate based on sound
safeguard policies for lending outside the
EU,
-
environmentally sound sectoral policies
for lending,
-
the creation of a complaints mechanism
for affected citizens,
-
effective measures to combat corruption
and money laundering,
-
a socially and politically sustainable
private sector lending strategy.
“The EIB completely fails to meet the
transparency, governance and environmental
standards expected of a modern day public
finance institution,” said Magda
Stoczkiewicz, leading the EIB reform campaign
for CEE Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth
International. “Profound changes are long
overdue and we believe that tomorrow’s first
meeting of the enlarged Board of Governors
should be a starting point in this process.
Our proposals are an ideal guide on how to
clean up the mess at the EIB.”
For more information contact:
Magda Stoczkiewicz, CEE Bankwatch/Friends
of the Earth International, +31 652 41 03 23
Martin Koehler, Campagna per la Riforma della
Banca Mondiale, + 32 478 309894
Notes to editors:
1) The full text of the “Public Funds for
Public Benefit: Making the European
Investment Bank support people and the
environment” document is available at:
www.foei.org/ifi/eibfunds.html
|
