The environmental association Quercus said this Thursday that the criminal investigation that led to the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa clearly exposes the “ease and lack of transparency” in the implementation of projects in the name of the energy transition.
The association encouraged violations of the democratic rule of law and put “further pressure on the territory” and local people in connection with lithium and hydrogen exploration.
“Quercus also recalls that the approval of SIMPLEX Ambiental, a legal diploma whose legitimate purpose is to simplify administrative procedures for obtaining environmental permits and licenses, was done through measures that harm its quality and therefore could endanger the environment in Portugal. “, the organization said in a statement.
According to the association, SIMPLEX Ambiental “throws back decades by erasing the fundamental values that environmental policy and the environmental impact assessment instrument aim to protect, without respecting national and European legislation on this matter and in breach of Community and international law.”
In particular, Quercus claims that with this diploma the government is not complying with international obligations such as the “Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making Processes and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.”
Quercus also called for an integrated and more coherent vision of climate action, advocating public policies that integrate all sectors such as agriculture, forestry, food, in addition to energy, “in a fair and proportionate manner.”
The association’s position stems from a Ministry of Justice operation on the lithium and hydrogen business, which was based on at least 42 searches and led to the arrest of five people: the chief of staff of the Prime Minister Vitor Escaria, the president of the city council of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas, two administrators of the company Start Campus , Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, and lawyer Diogo Lacerda Machado, a friend of Antonio Costa.
The defendants were named as Infrastructure Minister João Galamba, Portuguese Environment Agency President Nuno Lacasta, former PS representative João Thiago Silveira and the company Start Campus.
According to documents accessed by Luza, Lacerda Machado allegedly used his friendship with the prime minister to influence decisions by the government and other organizations regarding Start Campus projects.
The process targets the lithium exploration concessions of Montalegre and Boticas, both in Vila Real; a project for the production of energy from hydrogen in Sines, Setubal, as well as a project for the construction of a “data center” in the industrial and logistics zone of Sines by Start Campus.
In this case, an independent investigation against the Prime Minister is being carried out in the Supreme Court after suspects named him as having interfered with the unblocking of procedures in the businesses under investigation, prompting António Costa to submit his resignation to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.