Boticas, Portugal, Sept. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - The Aarhus Convention Committee has concluded that three Portuguese institutions "deliberately and unfoundedly" withheld information during public participation in the environmental assessment process for the Barroso mine in Boticas, following a complaint lodged in 2021.

The complaint was filed in 2021 by the Montescola Foundation, a Spanish non-governmental organisation (NGO), and the conclusion of the Aarhus Convention Committee was released in a statement on Wednesday.

The United in Defence of Covas do Barroso Association (UDCB) and MiningWatch Portugal were observers in the process.

The three NGOs consider that the Committee "corroborates that the environmental impact assessment process did not ensure that the right to public participation was guaranteed" and have called for the cancellation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The open-pit lithium mine was granted a conditional EIS in 2023, and Savannah plans to start producing lithium in 2027, in the municipality of Boticas, in the district of Vila Real.

The complaint dates back to the period of public consultation on the first version of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS), following several requests for access to documents related to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure that were denied.

The Aarhus Convention Committee concluded that the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) and the Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N) had "deliberately and unfoundedly withheld information".

Amongst other things, the committee considered that the APA did not respond to the request for environmental information within the deadline set by the Convention, that the APA and CCDR-N withheld environmental information on the grounds of an unfounded refusal criterion and that the DGEG failed to comply with the Convention by referring the request to another entity when it had the requested information.

It also points out that the APA did not ensure that there was a reasonable period for public participation within the scope of the reformulated EIA (2023) and considers that Portuguese legislation does not comply with several articles of the Convention, such as maintaining a consultation period of 10 working days in the case of the reformulated EIA, which does not comply with Article 6 of the Convention, recommending changes to bring it into line with the treaty signed by the Portuguese state.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters - commonly known as the Aarhus Convention - was adopted on 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus.

In Portugal, the Convention entered into force in September 2003.

"This decision is very important because it puts an end to the idea that the criticisms we have been making of the conduct of the evaluation process are unfounded. The violation of the right to access information and public participation is more than enough reason to annul the EIS and start the assessment process from scratch," said Carla Gomes, from the UDCB, quoted in the statement.

For Nik Völker, from MiningWatch Portugal, "the conclusions of the Convention Committee have consequences beyond the lithium project in Barroso", questioning what guarantees they offer to the territories where new environmental assessment processes are taking place or could take place.

"These bodies are discredited by their actions, and this is bad for everyone. Something has to change, and the cancellation of the EIS would be a strong signal in that direction," he stressed.

On behalf of Montescola, Joam Evans welcomed the decision and said that the NGO "will work with the UDCB and MiningWatch to ensure that the Barroso World Agricultural Heritage will be protected", hoping that the "decision will not be swept under the carpet".

"We want concrete action from the Portuguese state (...) The EIS has to be cancelled and we won't rest until we get it," he stresses.

In 2023, the Covas do Barroso Parish Council began legal action to annul the EIS.

PLI/ADB // ADB.

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