For years, EuroNatur and its partner organisations have been fighting against the controversial Mokrice hydropower plant on the Sava River. The Slovenian government is now trying to finance the construction through the backdoor of the EU recovery funds.
The confluence of the Sava and Krka rivers in Slovenia, not far away from the planned plant. This area is specially important for endagered fish species.
© Marko ZupančičBrussels, Ljubljana, Radolfzell. The Slovenian Government has officially submitted its National Recovery and Resilience Plan on April 30th. It intends to finance the highly contested Mokrice hydropower plant with EU money. The European Commission now needs to decide whether to give the blessing to a project that will violate EU environmental law, harm endangered species and threaten several habitats. Furthermore, if the EU were to finance the Mokrice hydropower plant, it will also be blessing a fraudulent and corrupted permitting process.
As a symbol for the current functioning of Slovenian decision making, the Mokrice hydropower Plant shows the neglect for legal and democratic procedures, the disregard for environmental conservation and the silencing and intimidation of civil society’s voice.
Background information:
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, EUR 672 bn are available for Member States to recover from the crisis, based on projects listed in a National Recovery and Resilience Plan assessed by the European Commission by the end of June.
Contact:
Christian Stielow, christian.stielow(at)euronatur.org, +49 7732 – 927215