* Admissibility date reflects the date the case was officially registered. All other dates pertain to the date in which a stage was completed.
Case Description
Complaint
On 12 October 2016, the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) received a complaint from an individual. The complaint concerns a section of the Banja Luka - Doboj Motorway in Republika Sprska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The complaint consists of four allegations concerning the following: (1) spatial planning; (2) construction permit; (3) environmental impact; and (4) social and safety impact.
EIB-CM Action
In 2019, the EIB-CM completed the Conclusions Report in this case.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The EIB-CM inquiry showed that:
- the project is fully in line with the project applicable standards in respect to two allegations ((1) and (3)) and that at one point the project was not in line with the standards in respect to the two remaining allegations ((2) and (4)) but that these issues have since been resolved.
- the EIB carried out its role as required concerning three of the four allegations ((1), (3), and (4)).
In respect to allegation (2), concerning the construction permit for the motorway, the EIB-CM inquiry shows that the EIB accepted the preliminary construction permit as a replacement for the construction permit, therefore, disbursing the funds for some works on the motorway when the final permit was not available yet. However, the promoter obtained the permit for these works, subsequently. Furthermore, the EIB’s decision to set the construction permit as a condition for disbursement of the first tranche and the main design as a condition for disbursement of the second tranche of the loan is not consistent with the legal framework of the country of operation. It appears that the detected inconsistencies are of a mere procedural nature. The EIB-CM, therefore, recommends that the EIB takes into account applicable national law and procedures on permits before setting disbursement conditions and making disbursements.