24/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - Lydia Bartz, of Urgewald, and Magda Stoczkiewicz, of EEC Bankwatch/Friends of the Earth International, have written an open letter to Philippe Maystadt, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), protesting on behalf of the 170 organisations and individuals representing civil society from around the world about the lack of significant dialogue between the Bank and NGOs. The non-governmental organisations, the letter recalls, were mainly concerned about the pulp mill project using EIB financing in the region of Veracel, in Brazil. The NGOs deplore the fact that there had been a meeting with the Bank on 21 October 2003 in Brussels but that concerns of an environmental and social kind expressed by the communities affected by the project "were simply not heard by the EIB". The signatories therefore criticise the EIB for not having taken into account "the information, the concerns or the criticism of Brazilian local representatives and NGOs", and for having decided to "finance the project without seriously attempting to address these concerns or prove they were wrong". NGOs recall that the project has caused a broad movement of protest in the country, "including the recent occupation of Veracel's plantations by the landless movement (MST) in Bahia".