NGOs have raised a red flag on EU structural funds programmes, arguing that, without significant adjustment, the Commission will approve spending that directly contradicts the CO2-reductions targets set by EU leaders in March (EurActiv 16/03/07).
While in May 2007 the Commission declared that EU funds have succesfully boosted productivity and employment in the bloc's poorest regions, Konečný countered that "the four countries which that received by far the most EU funds per capita over the past 15 years - Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland - also witnessed by far the greatest increases in greenhouse-gas emissions in the EU over the same period" (EurActiv 31/05/07).
Konečný is campaign co-ordinator for a joint Friends of the Earth Europe and CEE Bankwatch project that scrutinises the climate impact of EU structural-funds spending in the new member states.
"So far they have contributed to unsustainable development, for example in the transport sector and the waste management sector", Konečný said in reference to the impact of previous funds.
Now the groups are concerned that the new member states intend to allocate only 2%, on average, of EU funds towards renewable energies and energy efficiency. Most of the remaining funds will be spent on traditional infrastructure such as roads.
Rather than slowing down the catch-up process of the new member states, Konečný argues that investing in energy-efficient and green development rather than traditional infrastructures can actually put these states one step ahead of the rest.
"In the new member states, you have an opportunity to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases at a lower cost than in western Europe, because some of the infrastructures that western Europe has developed are still not in existence," Konečný asserts.
Some contest this argument, however. In a paper published in April 2007, the European Road Federation (ERF) argues that "investment in road infrastructure is needed to remove bottlenecks, avoid city centres and complete missing links that together cost billions every year in lost fuel and undoubtedly contribute to the transport sector's environmental footprint" (EurActiv 11/04/07).
EurActiv spoke with Konečný in more detail about how EU monies might be spent in ways that create economic growth and well-being while reducing, rather than increasing, harmful CO2 emissions.
