Green group charged with fraud in Greek crackdown

ATHENS | Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:46am EST

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek prosecutors have filed fraud charges against members of an environmental group, court and police officials said on Friday, as Athens tries to show its international lenders that it is cracking down on corruption.

The charges follow an audit of the financing of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) during the debt-fuelled economic boom of the 2000s.

The group, known as "Circle of Patmos" or "Religion, Science and the Environment" organized cruises in places like the Amazon and the Arctic Circle to raise awareness of environmental issues. Those taking part in the trips were mainly Greek Orthodox bishops and some leaders of other faiths.

Fourteen officials from the group were charged with defrauding the state after audits found that up to 5 million euros in public and private donations it received were unaccounted for, court and police sources said.

A court official, who declined to be named, said part of the funding was traced to a London bank account. The group did not immediately return calls to its offices in Athens and London.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who has cut wages and raised taxes to obtain EU/IMF bailout funds, in August ordered a freeze and review of all public funding of NGOs.

(Reporting by Harry Papachristou; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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EU to award rest of green energy fund within 12 months

EU commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard speaks during the United Nations Climate Change (COP18) Conference in Doha December 3, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Fadi Al-Assaad

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French power bills must rise to cover green costs: CRE

PARIS | Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:04pm EST

PARIS (Reuters) - A tax paid by French consumers as part of their electricity bills would have to rise 80 percent to cover development of renewable energy, energy regulator CRE said on Tuesday.

Renewable energy, which makes up 13 percent of the French energy mix, costs more than traditional sources including nuclear whose use France wants to limit.

The CSPE tax makes up around 8 percent of electricity bills paid by consumers, which is not enough to finance the legally binding purchase of subsidized green energy by electricity suppliers, leading to a deficit.

The CSPE deficit has emerged because the tax has not risen enough to compensate for spending on green energy production, resulting in a gap forecast at around 5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) for EDF, Europe's biggest electricity supplier, at the end of 2012.

A source at the energy ministry said last month the government was seeking a short-term solution to the CSPE deficit and a structural reform would be discussed during a debate on energy to be concluded next year.

One way to achieve a positive outcome on CSPE for EDF would be for the government to widen the base of the tax to gas and oil companies such as GDF Suez and Total, as EDF chief executive Henri Proglio has suggested.

The CRE said in a note posted on its website that if a decree to push up the tax was not issued by the year-end, it would automatically rise 3 euros per megawatt per hour (MWh) to 13.5 euros.

The regulator said the tax would need to rise to 18.8 euros to cover costs, with support to the solar sector making up 5.5 euros. ($1 = 0.7568 euros)

(Reporting By Benjamin Mallet; Editing by Dan Lalor)

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