"Commission hid information of environmental impact on mining projects, EU watchdog finds"

• The European Ombudswoman has found the Commission committed maladministration by refusing public access to documents about the environmental impacts of mining projects granted strategic status under the Critical Raw Materials Act
• The Ombudswoman found the Commission’s reasons for treating this information as “commercially sensitive” unconvincing

The European Ombudswoman has found that the European Commission wrongly withheld evidence showing whether mining projects declared “strategic” under the Critical Raw Materials Act are safe for the environment and local communities. The finding follows a complaint by ClientEarth, after the Commission refused to share environmental assessments submitted by mining companies as part of their applications.

The Ombudswoman found the refusal unjustified and called on the Commission to release the documents for wider public access. Given the large impact these projects have on the environment, she said the Commission “should be able to explain to the public why it considered that a project’s environmental impacts would be sufficiently monitored and addressed”.

The case goes beyond paperwork. “Strategic Projects” get special treatment: faster permits, easier access to public money, and priority in national courts. The communities living near these projects – whose forests, water and livelihoods are directly at stake – had no say in the process and no access to the information the Commission used to make its decisions.