Dear Joe, I am not sure what you mean. I think, the IMF loan is just a buoy to my country, and although some requirements are posed towards the economy, they affect the govenment spendings and the social securty expenditures first. I see no sign either in the IMF loan package that they would require easing the burden of EIA for investors. However, this is done under the auspices of harmonizing the Hun law with the EU Services Directive that requires changes in administrative procedural laws including the EIA procedure. EMLA is currently working on it for the MOE and we see that the legislative changes will boil down to changes in the EIA law, however, no significant change is expected re the public participation regime or the content of an EIS. The amendments foreseen now are mostly about where to submit an application for an environmental permit and how to keep contact with the competent authority (e.g by email or regular mail). Best, dr. Csaba Kiss Director EMLA