European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has said the European Commission’s refusal to give public access to documents related to the application by a lithium mining project in Serbia for fast-track status under the Critical Raw Materials Act is unreasonable and found maladministration.

The finding follows two complaints by individuals seeking transparency about how the project in the Jadar Valley of Serbia was assessed and selected to be a ‘strategic project’.

The Commission refused access to the seven documents it identified on the grounds that there should be a general presumption of non-disclosure due to the potential risk to the commercial interests of the mining company concerned. This meant the Commission did not individually examine the documents in question before refusing access.

The Ombudswoman’s inquiry showed that much of the information contained in the documents was not commercially sensitive. The documents did, however, contain significant environmental information, which is subject to higher transparency requirements.

The Ombudswoman underlined that, as the mining project will have a major impact on the environment, the Commission should be able to explain to the public why it considers that this impact will be sufficiently monitored and addressed.

In addition, the fact that the project has been the subject of controversy makes it even more important that the public can scrutinise the Commission’s decision on its strategic importance.

Similar case

This is the second time the Ombudswoman has found maladministration for how the Commission handled an access request related to strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act.

Relying on similar arguments, the Commission refused to give access to documents related to other projects that had applied for strategic status, in particular to their accompanying environmental compliance documents.

Background

Under the Critical Raw Materials Act, certain mining processing and recycling projects can be recognised as ‘strategic projects’, which means permits to carry out the project should be granted as quickly as possible.

In 2025, the Commission designated 60 projects as strategic projects of which 13 were located outside the EU, including the lithium extraction project in Serbia.

To be designated strategic,  a project must comply with certain criteria, including making a meaningful contribution to the EU’s supply of strategic raw materials and being implemented sustainably.