03/04/2020 (Agence Europe) – The coalition of European NGOs CAN Europe castigated, on Friday 3 April, the recent decision of the Estonian government to allocate €125 million to the public company Eesti Energia for the construction of a shale oil plant. "Much better uses could be found for this money in the current crisis – either in the healthcare sector or to support long-term economic solutions", criticised Piret Väinsalu, climate expert for the Estonian Fund for Nature. Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe, for his part, described this decision as " unacceptable", judging it to be totally contrary to the EU's current priorities: the health and climate crisis. Finally, Sander Jahilo, Head of the Sustainable Production Systems Programme at the EIT Climate-KIC, points out that this decision "contradicts" the €125.2 million that the European Commission has earmarked for Estonia under the 'Just Transition Fund' (see EUROPE 12404/12). (DG)