Open
* 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
The complaint concerned the Piraeus Port investment programme in Greece. The complaint focused on the expansion of basic port infrastructure for the reception and service of cruise ships, which are to be funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Programme. The main allegations of the complaint were:
i. Deficient environmental decision-making, especially a limited scope of and expired Approval of Environmental Terms (AEPO), which did not cover the additional berths for cruise liners. The complainant alleged that the Piraeus Port Master Plan did not cover the disputed overall project components and were not subject to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
ii. Unassessed and unaddressed significant negative environmental impacts caused by the development in the Southern Piraeus passenger port area, especially in terms of a potential flooding phenomenon, air pollution caused by cruise ships and surface transport, unaccounted health effects stemming from hazardous waste treatment and the use of caissons to dispose the hazardous dredged material.
iii. State aid linked to the allocation of public funding (ERDF) to the developer and a waiver provided by the State Council decision Ref.1076/2019 in breach of the Greek and EU law on procurement.
EIB-CM Action
During the investigation, the EIB-CM: (i) had an initial meeting with the EIB services; (ii) reviewed EIB documents; and (iii) requested and received information from the promoter. The EIB-CM analysed the available evidence and the relevant regulatory framework. Based on this, the EIB-CM prepared its conclusions report.
Conclusions
The reviewed evidence did not show instances of non-compliance of the project with the applicable standards. The evidence showed that:
· The disputed overall project components and the EIB’s financed project were included in the renewed Master Plan, which had the draft SEA report and was undergoing approval at the time of issuance of the EIB-CM conclusions report;
· The Piraeus port investment programme, including the disputed overall project components, was assessed in a recently completed procedure, which led to the extension of the validity of AEPO. During the investigation the developer possessed a valid AEPO to operate the project;
· The decision making for the Piraeus Port investment programme have taken into account issues raised in the complaint in the procedures already completed or ongoing at the time of the complaint’s investigation. Several recent environmental studies prepared for the decision making addressed the issues raised in the complaint, therefore the EIB’s Environmental Standards 1 and 2 have been met.
The EIB-CM concluded that there was no maladministration by the Bank and issued one suggestion for improvement:
· In accordance with the internal procedures, to reflect the most up-to-date information on the relevant EIA and SEA milestones in the ESCS to be implemented at the completion of EIB’s financed project (expected at Q1 of 2024).