Press release

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

17 July 2026

  • 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.

Ilze Tralmaka, ClientEarth lawyer, said: 

“For almost two years, local communities were completely shut out of the process that would reshape their lands and livelihoods. Not only did they have no say – even long after the decisions were made –  they were also unable to find out why these projects were declared safe for nature and people. The Ombudswoman’s decision finally forces that information into the open. The Commission must now release it – both for projects approved in the past and for those still to come.”

The Ombudswoman has given the Commission until 15 October 2026 to respond. ClientEarth will keep pushing for full transparency in Strategic Project decisions.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Read the EU Ombudswoman’s recommendations in case 1855/2025/MIG.

The Critical Raw Materials Act was adopted in 2024 to secure Europe's access to essential materials for the green and digital transitions. The EU is also developing a Water Resilience Strategy to address increasing water scarcity, pollution, and the impact of climate change on water resources.

The Act, designed to secure Europe’s supply of materials cannot come at the cost of environmental standards and community rights. With another round of applications having closed earlier this year, the same secrecy risks being repeated.

ClientEarth submitted its complaint to the European Ombudswoman in July 2025, after the Commission refused to share key environmental documents about mining projects seeking strategic status under the Critical Raw Materials Act. Despite the significant impact these projects could have on local communities and ecosystems, the Commission refused access to documents that would allow public oversight, citing commercial confidentiality and internal deliberation. The complaint argued that the Commission:

  • Did not provide a legally required response to a confirmatory application

  • Misapplied exceptions under applicable EU law (Regulation 1049/2001), including that the information requested is covered by commercial secrecy

  • Failed to recognise that there was an overriding public interest in transparency in this case.

ClientEarth, together with a Portuguese NGO Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso (UDCB), has also challenged the decision to grant the status of a strategic project to Barroso lithium project in Northern Portugal.

About ClientEarth

ClientEarth works in over 50 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. We shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive. 

We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world.