African countries with mining trade agreements with the EU are concerned after the European Union Raw Materials Coalition (EURMC) warned on Wednesday about the EU's lack of transparency regarding mining investments in third countries, putting human rights and environmental protection at risk.

The European Commission adopted this Wednesday the first list of 13 strategic projects related to essential raw materials located outside the EU, aimed at diversifying supply sources.

Among the 13 strategic projects, seven are located in Canada, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine and Zambia – with which the European Union has a strategic partnership on raw materials value chains.

Two are located in an overseas country or territory, Greenland and New Caledonia, and the rest are located in Brazil, Madagascar, Malawi, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

In a statement, EURMC, the largest network of civil society organizations working on EU raw materials policies that advocates for a fair and sustainable resource transition, said the launch of the 13 projects “raises concerns” about the EU's approach to strategic partnerships and mining investments outside its borders, particularly in Africa.

EURMC warns that these projects “lack adequate safeguards, transparency and local involvement – putting human rights, indigenous rights and environmental protection at serious risk,” according to the statement.

The organization notes that the Commission's approach to critical raw materials used to focus on the European Green Deal, but now militarization is taking center stage. It warns that some projects are in countries with weak governance systems, "which raises concerns about how strategic partnerships are being implemented on the ground."

"The EU must honor its commitments to human rights, international law, and democratic commitment, ensuring that these projects do not reproduce the harm caused by extractivism in the past," the statement said.

And it's worth remembering that the Critical Raw Materials Law was designed to help protect raw material supply chains. "But in doing so, the EU must avoid exporting social and environmental damage. Strategic projects carried out abroad cannot proceed without a process of free, prior, and informed consultation," he warns.

The EURMC, which points to the project in Serbia (lithium) as one that raises “serious concerns,” also says that civil society is also alarmed by the fact that the Commission continues to fail to provide information on how projects were selected, what criteria were used, and how they will be monitored and evaluated, particularly in sensitive regions such as Africa.