Friends of the Earth blasts 22bn euro waste
22 billion euros worth of EU structural and cohesion funds are set to be spent in support of ill-conceived projects in central and eastern Europe, Friends of the Earth has warned
40 projects funded through EU structural and cohesion funds in the member states which joined the bloc in 2004 - notably waste incineration plants, motorways and water management projects - are "harmful" and "wholly unnecessary" given alternative possibilities, according to Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) and CEE Bankwatch Network.
"EU funding support for central and eastern European countries is necessary and welcome. But if the money drives reckless developments and environmental destruction, its potential to deliver benefits is being wasted," said Martin Konecny, FoEE's EU funds coordinator.
The NGOs have produced an online map highlighting the projects they consider to be harmful to ecosystems and communities. Poland and the Czech Republic's controversial Via Baltica motorway, another motorway connecting Brno in the Czech Republic with Vienna and nine Polish waste incineration plants are cited as particularly damaging, dubbing them 'RegioScar' projects.
The Commission meanwhile has awarded the label 'RegioStar' to those EU-funded projects it considers to be exemplary in "promoting sustainable development and knowledge-based regional economies".
