press release
CEE Bankwatch * Friends of the Earth
International * Urgewald
European Investment Bank's consultation
deception criticised by civil
society
Amsterdam, May 21 2004 -- An open letter
from 170 organizations and individuals
representing civil society from around the
world has been sent today to the President of
the European Investment Bank (EIB), Philippe
Maystadt. In it the signatories denounce a
recent attempt by the EIB to misrepresent
NGOs and request real and meaningful dialogue
between the Bank and civil society,
especially with those communities affected by
EIB financed projects. [1]
Magda Stoczkiewicz, leading the EIB campaign
for CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the
Earth International, said, "For many years we
have been asking the EIB to engage in
dialogue with civil society. We remain open
for engagement with the EIB on what such a
dialogue would mean at the policy and project
level but we denounce any attempt to
misrepresent us simply for the Bank's PR
purposes." Lydia Bartz from urgewald, Germany
, who has been following the EIB's Veracel
Celulose pulp mill project in the Bahia
region of Brazil, added: "In the case of the
Veracel project in Brazil, we refer in our
letter to how affected communities and NGOs
were listened to on a very tokenistic level
but were simply not heard by the EIB. Recent
unrests in the Bahia region show exactly that
the EIB did not do its homework and financed
a project which is causing serious social and
environmental problems."
[1]
OPEN
LETTER
to Philippe Maystadt, President
European Investment Bank.
For more information contact:
Magda Stoczkiewicz
CEE Bankwatch Network/Friends of the Earth
International
Tel: +31 652 41 03 23
Lydia Bartz
urgewald
Tel: + 49 2583 1031
Document Actions
Journalists
For media inquires contact Niccolo Sarno, FoEI media coordinator.
Tel: +31-20-6221369 (Office landline in Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
If you wish to receive our press releases by email please contact media [at] foei.org
