The Atlantic Connect Group announced Tuesday that it has formally requested clarification from the European Commission following the jury’s negative opinion on its bid to acquire Azores Airlines. In a statement, the group questioned what it describes as inconsistencies in the privatization process, arguing that if the European Commission mandated the airline’s privatization as part of the SATA restructuring plan, then it must also clarify the objectives at stake and where they are formally defined.

According to Atlantic Connect, the European decision made public stipulates that Portugal must divest at least 51 percent of Azores Airlines’ share capital. “It was on the basis of that clear rule,” the group stated, “that Atlantic Connect structured a proposal to acquire 85 percent of the company, ensuring financial sustainability, labor stability, and a reduction of risk for taxpayers.”

Despite that framework, the proposal received a negative opinion from the competition jury, allegedly due to a failure to meet assumptions that, the group argues, were never explained and do not appear in the European Commission’s published decision.

During the process, Atlantic Connect said it requested access to the confidential version of the agreement between the Government of the Azores and the European Commission. That request, the company claims, was denied without explanation.

“If there are conditions or commitments beyond those contained in the public decision, they were never made known to the business community,” the statement reads. “It is not acceptable that undisclosed criteria be used to penalize a proposal grounded in the official information available.”

The group also pushed back against what it called the “generic invocation” of the public interest as justification for excluding its bid. “The Government of the Azores, the competition jury, and SATA’s administration must be fully aware that decisions based on assumptions never made public cannot remain free from scrutiny,” the statement emphasized.

Atlantic Connect insisted it will not accept the rejection of a proposal structured in accordance with publicly available rules on the basis of criteria that were never disclosed. “If other criteria existed, they should have been made public. If they did not, the reasons for the rejection must be properly justified,” the group said.

Framing the dispute as a matter of transparency and institutional credibility, Atlantic Connect concluded that “the defense of transparency, the confidence of workers, and the credibility of the process is not optional — and will be pursued to its fullest extent through the available institutional mechanisms.”

The statement ends with a pointed warning: “If the grounds invoked do not find clear support in the European Commission’s decision, then all consequences arising from that choice must be unequivocally assumed by those who made it.”

In Diário dos Açores — Paulo Viveiros, director.

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.