14 September 2020

Civil society groups working in Southeastern Europe are calling on the European Union to step up its actions on legal violations of EU law by Chinese state-owned enterprises in Europe.

The CEE Bankwatch Network made the plea on September 14 as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Council President Charles Michel, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet online with China's President Xi Jinping to discuss a planned investment agreement, among other things.

The network noted in a statement that Chinese state-owned companies have been “particularly active” in Southeast Europe in recent years, citing signed contracts to build four new coal plants, rehabilitate two coal plants, invest in heavy industries, and construct other infrastructure...

But “most of the projects breach national and EU environmental, procurement, and state-aid law,” according to the CEE Bankwatch Network.

It added that none of the projects is in line with the latest EU pollution control standards of 2017, most have “very weak” environmental assessment studies, and the Drmno lignite mine expansion project in Serbia had “none at all.”