Devastating project concerning the Tuzla coal-fired power plant

Question for written answer  E-000249/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Elena Lizzi (ID)

During the summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), China Exim Bank granted the Bosnian Government a loan amounting to 85% of the EUR 720 million required for the major expansion of the 715-megawatt coal-fired power plant, with six units, built between the 1960s and 1970s in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The remaining EUR 75 million are allegedly to be loaned by European banks.

The Tuzla plant is one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the Balkans and is among the main sources of pollution not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina but in the entire region. For years, local residents have been protesting against the pollution generated by the plant. Bosnia is a signatory to the Energy Community Treaty, which seeks to integrate the energy markets of countries neighbouring the European Union with the single European energy market, and provides for significant environmental constraints.

Can the Commission therefore say:

• 1.whether, in its view, the expansion of the Tuzla plant is compatible with the Energy Community Treaty;
• 2.whether, in its view, the project funded by China Exim Bank and several European banks is in keeping with the principles of the European Green Deal;
• 3.whether it believes that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s decision to expand Tuzla’s coal-fired power plant will have any impact on its accession to the European Union?