The complainant asked the European Commission for public access to an approval letter it had received from the Serbian authorities concerning the designation of the Jadar mining project in Serbia as a ‘strategic project’ under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act. The Commission refused access to the document. In doing so, it invoked an exception under the EU legislation on public access to documents, arguing that disclosure could undermine the protection of international relations with Serbia.

The complainant asked the Commission to review its decision (by making a ‘confirmatory application’). While the Commission acknowledged receipt of the complainant’s request, it did not take a decision on it within the legal time limit. The Ombudsman opened an inquiry asking the Commission to take a decision as soon as possible. She also sought to inspect the document in question.

The Commission has settled the complaint by granting wide partial access to the document at issue, redacting only limited personal data, which the complainant did not challenge. That said, the Ombudsman regrets the Commission’s delay in adopting the confirmatory decision, which persisted even after the Ombudsman had opened her inquiry.