* 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
In November 2021, the EIB Group Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) received a letter from several civil society organisations and registered a complaint concerning the project of the design, building, operation and maintenance of the B2 and C stretches of the Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda toll motorway, including complementary roads, running through the provinces of Milan, Monza-Brianza and Bergamo in the Lombardy Region. The project promoter is Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda S.p.A.
The EIB services appraised the project in 2020. The project was approved by the EIB’s Management in July 2021, while the finance contract was signed in August 2021 without any disbursement to date.
The allegation regarding the EIB’s alleged failure to comply with its environmental commitments and failure to address the climate emergency was dismissed at the stage of the Initial Assessment Report (IAR) concluded in March 2022. The IAR identified further allegations for the CM review concerning the failure of the project to mitigate significant environmental impacts:
(i) Failure by the Operational Remediation Plan to properly address the risk of TCDD dioxin releases, including the lack of clarity on the monitoring plan and workers’ protection; and
(ii) Failure to comply with national legislation and landscape, soil and nature protection regimes during the environmental impact assessment procedure likely to cause further habitat fragmentation and damage to ecosystems and biodiversity.
After conducting a review of available information, the EIB-CM established that at the time of the Conclusions report the EIB carried out its due diligence of the project as required by its environmental and social standards. It closes the case without any suggestions for improvement.