CEE Bankwatch Network

The introduction, which describes the political context of the initiative, quotes an excerpt from Enrico Lettas report. It states that if left unaddressed, regional and territorial differences could lead to a new geography of discontent where people feel left behind.

In addition to comments submitted by CEE Bankwatch Network on the climate delegated act, the following suggestions are made for improving the technical screening criteria in the environmental delegated act with respect to the circular economy goals: 1.

We agree that it is needed to include downstream steel and aluminium products in CBAM, but also to include other measures to track the ultimate origin of aluminium and steel, as there is scope for producers on the EU's borders using renewable electricity such as Aluminij Mostar to resell or reshape high carbon-intensity products from elsewhere, undermining CBAM and wasting energy.

April 2026 CEE Bankwatch Network input for the EU Call for Evidence on renewable energy - legal framework after 2030 CEE Bankwatch Network welcomes the Call for Evidence on the post-2030 legal framework for renewable energy and agrees that the EU’s resilience would be greatly strengthened by securing reliable, homegrown, affordable, and decarbonised energy for European people, industry and businesses and ensuring…

Opening of the attached position paper · the full paper is on the Commission’s record (source link above)

May 2026 Comments on the Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on speeding-up environmental assessments Introduction The ‘Environmental Simplification Package’ – as well as the proposed Directive on accelerating permitting under the Grids Package, which reopens the permitting provisions of RED III yet again – should not go forward as they are not based on a real and demonstrated…

Opening of the attached position paper · the full paper is on the Commission’s record (source link above)

CEE Bankwatch Network welcomes the opportunity to comment on the EU Grids Package legislative initiative. The feedback is available in the attached document. Comments are provided on permitting acceleration, grids funding and TEN-E revision. On permitting, we stress the need for consistent application of existing environmental legislation and upholding established standards.

For our full input, see attachment. Our recommendations are as follows: The Commission needs to step up environmental enforcement for all activities, not only EU-funded ones. The proposed guidance needs to clearly spell out the role of the do no significant harm assessment, clearly distinguishing its purpose and methodology from existing permitting procedures, as done under the RRF guidance but with more details on…

CEE Bankwatch Network firmly believes that a strong and ambitious EU energy efficiency framework remains essential to address the multiple crises facing Europe, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. Energy efficiency is not optional: it is the fastest and most cost-effective way to tackle acute energy poverty, lower household energy bills, reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports, accelerate a just transition…

CEE Bankwatch Network welcomes the improvement in spatial planning and the clarity that acceleration areas have the potential to bring for investors as the EU strives to ramp up its renewable energy share. But we remain highly concerned about the rollback of environmental safeguards and public participation provisions in the latest updates to the Renewable Energy Directive.