Counter Balance

In #EIBForum, happy as the EIB says we can not go back to #fossilfuels in front of Eni lobbyist but so sad not to hear any voices against #nuclear, #CCS (Eni's favourite)

In this episode, we unpack the power relations and governance flaws in the current European industrial agenda.

We also explore alternatives to the current industrial policy. What would a genuinely sustainable transformation of the European industry look like?

Listen 👇

🎙️ A new episode from the #EUWatchdogRadio is out!

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the EU’s flagship Clean Industrial Deal. But so far who benefits, and who actually decides the direction of Europe’s green transition?

🎧 Listen: spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/0hGcv52J40b

Today, 17 international CSOs sent a letter calling on the Swiss government to stop violating its commitment to end international public finance for fossil fuels.

We demand 🇨🇭 to honor its climate commitments and immediately cease issuing export credit insurance for gas-fired power plants.

Read 👇

At a moment when Europe urgently needs investment for decarbonisation and a just transition, InvestEU risks reinforcing an industrial policy that protects private profits rather than driving transformative change.

🔗Read more: counter-balance.org/publications...

Who decides that a project 'needs' public support?

👉 The Investment Committee

It approves the use of the EU budgetary guarantee — mainly assessing 'additionality' and whether the project can 'crowd in' private investors.

In theory, it safeguards public interest. But as Verkor shows, it does not 🤔

Take Verkor’s Gigafactory in France 🇫🇷

While a main shareholder Renault recorded record profits and increased dividends, InvestEU concluded the project required public support.

No binding conditions. No obligation to change business models. 🚗💨

🚨 A vague definition of 'additionality' lets public guarantees back projects from companies that already have plenty of resources.

And fails to attach conditionalities that would ensure companies invest their own resources and profits in productive, environmentally sustainable activities. 🌱

💸 InvestEU is set to become the cornerstone of the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) in the next 🇪🇺 budget.

Yet there is still no comprehensive assessment of its impact on the real economy.

Headline numbers ≠ real investments.

Industry Support at All Costs? 🇪🇺

Our new report shows how InvestEU is scaling up public guarantees while undermining a just transition. 🧵👇

🔗 Read more: counter-balance.org/publications...

⚠️ The latest proposals from @ec.europa.eu for the #MFF have serious repercussions for int’l #development, accelerating the shift towards private finance over the EU’s mandate to reduce poverty & tackle inequalities.
How? See our 🆕report or the 🧵below: www.eurodad.org/mff_blended_...
/1

The response to the Global Gateway must be collective. ✊

We need new alliances — especially with labour — to defend dignified livelihoods for all, not profits for a few.

Justice lies beyond the capital's economy.

Read more: counter-balance.org/news/global-...

These projects are designed by EU institutions, national governments and big corporations — without the involvement of affected countries and communities.

And the consequences are brutal:
displacement, land-grabbing, water depletion, and sacrifice zones. 🩸⚠️

Public development funds are being diverted to:

🚩de-risk private investment
🚩guarantee commercial loans
🚩build infrastructure for EU supply chains

👉 In other words: piling debt onto the Global South to serve Europe’s interests.

The so-called “infrastructure financing gap” is not a social problem.

There is enough public money for housing, healthcare, water and energy. 🏡🚝🚰🔌

The purpose of the Global Gateway is clear:

🚩 expand the EU’s global influence
🚩 secure strategic resources to Europe
🚩 put other countries to work for Europe’s elites.

Let’s call it what it is: imperialism.

Global Gateway isn’t about development.

It’s about advancing European capital at the expense of people and the planet. 🌍💥

A new wave of EU infrastructure is being rolled out globally. But who really benefits from it? 👇🧵

Read the blog post we just published: counter-balance.org/news/global-...

This is a key moment for the EIB to demonstrate its role 🏦

📑 Want to dig deeper? Read all the recommendations here 👉 counter-balance.org/uploads/file...

#SocialAndGreenEIB

🔍 The EIB must ensure strict compliance with its environmental, climate and social due diligence, in line with the EIB’s Environmental and Social Standards, alongside enhanced transparency and reporting.

👥 We need a broad public awareness, meaningful civil society involvement, and a stronger role for state and/or local authorities in the implementation of the Facility.

🏠🚍We call on the EIB Board to use this Facility as an example of just transition investments in the housing and transport sector, with a visible contribution to reducing energy and transport poverty across the Union.

The Facility should be firmly anchored in the objectives of the Social Climate Fund and used to strengthen structural support for vulnerable households. 🏡🪴

📄 CSOs published recommendations to the Board of Directors of the @eib.org on its facility to pre-finance the Social Climate Fund.

How this Facility is designed will determine if people and communities across the EU are supported or ignored. 🇪🇺

Here are some of our key recommendations 👇🧵

Public investment should be used to meet people’s daily needs such as affordable housing renovations, mobility projects, care, energy, and food systems.

This is why we launched the Social and Green EIB coalition, calling the bank to fund what really matters. 🌏

👇 Read our full recommendations

Frank Vanaerschot, Counter Balance Director, highlighted the need to use public investment to ensure green public services.🏡🚉

Instead of de-risking the private sector, we must use public money to build long-term projects for the many, not the few. ✅

🎤 Today, we have listened to how de-risking can be a dangerous tool that can raise debt and even deepen inequalities between countries. ⛓️

Why do we channel public money to profit-oriented bodies with almost no criteria? 💸

@epsu.bsky.social @eeb.org @neweconomics.bsky.social

*Derisking: The public investment to attract private companies & investors by reducing risks or increasing returns for projects that are deemed strategic.

Alongside the deregulation wave, it's another point in Commission’s competitiveness agenda.

Gambling with public money.

EU budget is not tight when it comes to corporate adventures.

➡️ EU takes the risk - gives the money.
⬅️ Corporates enjoy, almost with no conditionalities.

We're listening @angelawigger.bsky.social at the Derisking* event by @eeb.org , @neweconomics.bsky.social, @counter-balance.bsky.social & EPSU.

📝 A new blog is out!

While negotiations on the next EU budget are underway, rethinking how and why we de-risk private investment is a pressing necessity if EU public finance is to truly serve households’ liveability and support a fair and sustainable transition.

👉 Read more: lnkd.in/dWXuEAdG

@epsu.bsky.social
@feantsa.bsky.social
@neweconomics.bsky.social
@eeb.org
@eurodadnews.bsky.social
@recommon.org
@observatoriodg.bsky.social
@ceebankwatch.bsky.social
@menafem.bsky.social
@counter-balance.bsky.social
@foeeurope.bsky.social
@transportenvironment.org