* 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
Complaint
On 28 February 2010, the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) received a complaint concerning the Belgrade Urban Renewal project in Serbia and, in particular,the reconstruction works in Boulevard Kralja Aleksandra in Belgrade. The complainant alleged that the implementation of the contested project would require the removal of more than 300 majestic platanus trees which, according to the complainant, had a considerable cultural and historical significance for the city of Belgrade. The complainant stated that this action was in breach of EU environmental legislation.
EIB-CM Action
The CM reviewed the due diligence carried out by the EIB's competent services as well as the information provided by the promoter on the issues at stake.
Conclusions and Recommendations
With regard to the complainant's allegation regarding the removal of the trees and taking into account the grant agreement provided to the same project under the contribution agreement of the EIB with the European Commission (EC), the CM recommends the EIB operational services to inform the EC of the complaint and the findings of the CM Conclusions Report.
In light of the findings referred to in the conclusions report, the CM takes the view that the EIB was not aware of the removal of the trees before receiving the present complaint. If the EIB services would have been informed that the trees were to be affected by the project works, they would have been considered as a part of the project description of the reconstruction works in Boulevard Kralja Aleksandra and, thus, might have advised on the need for and the content of possible additional assessments of the environmental impact of the project.
Given the removal of the old platanus trees, in the absence of a formal Environmental Impact Assessment, the CM recommends the EIB to ask the promoter to provide compensation in the form of an additional plantation of a 12/12 number of trees, in a measure to be established by the Competent Authority according to the applicable legal basis in Serbia, and satisfactory to the EIB itself.
With regards to the demolition of trees under the renewal line of trees project (financed and performed by the XX Belgrade) and the legality of this action under the national law, the CM is not competent to carry out further inquiry into this matter.