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Counter Balance

CB

Counter Balance is a European NGO coalition advocating for sustainable public finance.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Fabien Gehl (Head of Unit Trade) and Both ENDS

16 Oct 2025 · • Presentation of the report by Both Ends “The role of EU Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) in financing the Energy Transition” • Discussion about ECAs’ role in decarbonisation and about the enhanced coordination between export and development finance

Meeting with Kathleen Van Brempt (Member of the European Parliament) and Both ENDS

16 Oct 2025 · The role of European Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) in financing the Energy Transition

Meeting with Chloé Ridel (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

23 Sept 2025 · Global Gateway

Meeting with Hana Genorio (Cabinet of Commissioner Jozef Síkela) and OXFAM INTERNATIONAL EU ADVOCACY OFFICE and

16 Jul 2025 · Exchange of views on Global Gateway and future priorities.

Meeting with Abir Al-Sahlani (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Apr 2025 · EUs biståndspolitik

Meeting with Hana Genorio (Cabinet of Commissioner Jozef Síkela), Lucie Šestáková (Cabinet of Commissioner Jozef Síkela) and

20 Mar 2025 · Global Gateway

Meeting with Marlene Holzner (Head of Unit Directorate-General for International Partnerships) and OXFAM INTERNATIONAL EU ADVOCACY OFFICE and

20 Mar 2025 · Exchange of views on Global Gateway and the future priorities

Meeting with Rudi Kennes (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Mar 2025 · EU budget

Meeting with Marit Maij (Member of the European Parliament) and Human Rights Watch and

18 Feb 2025 · Roundtable discussion on Financing for Development

Meeting with Hildegard Bentele (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Feb 2025 · Global Gateway Strategy

Meeting with Marit Maij (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Feb 2025 · Meeting with representatives from Counter Balance

Meeting with Kathleen Van Brempt (Member of the European Parliament) and Both ENDS

28 Jan 2025 · Critical Raw Materials + Export Credit Agencies

Meeting with Marit Maij (Member of the European Parliament) and Stichting Fair Trade Advocacy Office and

5 Dec 2024 · “Global Green Deal: How the EU can lead a Fair and Just Transition worldwide”

Meeting with Daniel Freund (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

6 Nov 2024 · ECA Special Report 14/2023

Meeting with Marit Maij (Member of the European Parliament) and OXFAM INTERNATIONAL EU ADVOCACY OFFICE

16 Oct 2024 · Presentation report: Who Profits from the Global Gateway? The EUs new strategy for development

Meeting with Marc Botenga (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Oct 2024 · Global Gateway

Meeting with Erik Marquardt (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Sept 2024 · Exchange on Global Gateway

Meeting with Philippe Lamberts (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Mar 2024 · Webinar financing Green Deal

Meeting with Kathleen Van Brempt (Member of the European Parliament) and Both ENDS

14 Sept 2023 · Export Credit Agencies impact analysis Com and state of play - APA

Counter Balance warns hydrogen valleys subsidise the fossil fuel industry

28 Aug 2023
Topic — Strategic roadmap to double Hydrogen Valleys to reach REPowerEU energy targets.
Message — The coalition demands that public funds prioritise 100% renewable energy and efficiency measures over inflated hydrogen targets. They argue hydrogen should be restricted to transparently defined applications where no sustainable alternatives exist.12
Why — Adopting these recommendations would fulfill the coalition's mission to block fossil fuel subsidies.3
Impact — Fossil gas companies would lose infrastructure subsidies while Global South populations avoid exploitation.45
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Meeting with Olivia Gippner (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and Both ENDS

26 Jul 2023 · EU Export Credit Agencies and the Green Deal

Meeting with Heidi Hautala (Member of the European Parliament) and Both ENDS

20 Jun 2023 · European Export Credit Agencies (staff level)

Meeting with Kathleen Van Brempt (Member of the European Parliament) and Both ENDS

4 May 2023 · State of play in depth analysis and feasibility study on export credit agencies - APA

Meeting with Marc Botenga (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Mar 2023 · Industrial Policy

Meeting with Alfred Sant (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

7 Mar 2023 · European Investment Bank Annual Report 2022

Meeting with David Cormand (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Greenpeace European Unit and CEE Bankwatch Network

16 Feb 2022 · EIB

Response to Evaluation of the application of the EFSI Regulation EU 2015/1017

3 Jan 2018

As an NGO coalition monitoring the European public finance, Counter Balance has monitored the set-up and operations of EFSI since it was announced. We published in July 2016 the report "What's new in the Investment Plan for Europe: Business as usual or genuine innovation?" (http://www.counter-balance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/What%e2%80%99s-new-in-the-Investment-Plan-for-Europe.pdf). Then, together with WWF EU, CEE Bankwatch Network and CAN Europe, we published two reports in 2016 and 2017 evaluating EFSI operations from its start in 2015 until October 2017. Our latest report "Doing the same thing and expecting different results?: the EFSI continues to support fossil fuels and high carbon projects" concludes that while geographical and sectoral imbalances have eased over this period, these still persist. The fund still does not meet the targets set by the EFSI Steering Committee in its Strategic Orientation document. Concerns remain about its sustainability and transparency. The analysis of signed operations shows that in the energy sector, the EFSI supported almost equal volumes of fossil fuels projects and renewable energy (EUR 1.85 billion versus EUR 2.0 billion). Fossil fuels investments were mainly located in Italy and contributed to the development of gas distribution networks, smart metering and gas storage. In the transport sector, the two most supported forms of investment were motorways and innovations in the automotive industry. The latter was categorised under the EFSI Research and Development heading, which is partly misleading. Sustainable public transport like rail and urban mobility have been largely neglected, receiving a minor share (13 per cent) of the EFSI transport sector. These findings are all the more concerning because only 20 per cent of EFSI financing supported projects that contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, whereas the EIB’s standard portfolio reached the threshold of more than 25 per cent. Simply, EFSI does not do more for climate change mitigation and adaptation than EIB’s standard operations. Finally, EFSI operations are still fraught with a concerning level of opacity: there is no distinct, clearly identifiable and transparent functioning of the instrument. Little information is disclosed regarding the merit of the projects, their expected impacts and their additionality. In many cases project summaries have not been published. Scoreboards against which the projects are assessed are not published even after a loan agreement is finalised. Moreover, the EFSI pipeline on the EIB website is not compatible with the list of investment approvals available from the Investment Committee.
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Meeting with Paulina Dejmek Hack (Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker) and CEE Bankwatch Network

8 May 2015 · EFSI