ECAs are now the world´s biggest group of public International Financial Institutions, collectively exceeding the World Bank Group in size. This two-part NGO workshop, to be held initially in Brussels on 2 September 2004, will focus on the Aarhus Convention as a transparency tool for the ECA reform campaign. It will address the following questions: (1) What expected change will the Aarhus Convention (and the EC Directive 2003/4) bring about in the disclosure practices of ECAs – namely on ex-ante transparency? (2) What are the possibilities and limits of information disclosure for the ECA campaign on the basis of the Aarhus Convention? (3) Which strategy for the ECA campaign would be the best to use the opportunities created for information disclosure by Aarhus? A strong emphasis will also be put on the problem of commercial confidentiality. A follow-up workshop, to be held on 25 November 2004 in Brussels, will target Members of the European Parliament, ECA representatives and the Council Working Group. The NGO workshop is being co-organised by WEED (World Ecology, Economy and Development) and FERN - the EU forest campaign. Contact: [email protected].
