European Investment Bank’s consultation deception criticised by civil society
AMSTERDAM (NETHERLANDS) – 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.”
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
NOTES
[1] Download the open letter to Philippe Maystadt, President European Investment Bank:
