Today, Counter Balance launches its 2025 Activity Report, a year-in-review of our work challenging European public finance to serve people and the planet, not corporate interests.
In 2025, we coordinated the Social and Green EIB coalition, bringing together civil society organisations, trade unions, and anti-poverty networks across Europe and the Global South to demand a genuinely just transition. We held the European Investment Bank accountable to its climate commitments, exposed how the EU’s Global Gateway continues to prioritise European geopolitical and corporate interests over the real development needs of partner countries and communities, and challenged the growing militarisation of EU public finance. We did this by calling for public investments to prioritise delivering what we call green public services such as the roof we need over our head and a renewable energy bill we are able to afford.
We also closely monitored InvestEU and EU industrial policy, exposing how de-risking mechanisms increasingly serve profitable corporations rather than delivering public value. And we pushed Export Credit Agencies to align with climate goals and human rights standards instead of fossil fuel profits.
We believe every euro of European public money must work for communities, climate, and social justice. Our report shows the progress made, and how much work remains.
A huge thank you to our members, donors, and partners for making this work possible.
