EO express 03/2024

The EO express brings you an overview of the European Ombudsman's recent activities, including inquiry openings, key findings, speeches and events. It is published about six times a year.

RECENT INQUIRY DEVELOPMENTS

Commission delays concerning decisions on dangerous chemicals is maladministration, says Ombudsman

The Ombudsman has found maladministration in the European Commission’s persistent failure to meet the legal deadlines for preparing authorisation decisions concerning dangerous chemical substances. She asked the Commission to review its internal procedures, ensure companies provide sufficient information in their authorisation applications, and promptly reject applications with insufficient information. The Ombudsman also found a lack of transparency in the broader authorisation process and called on the Commission to publish more substantial summaries of meetings where Member State representatives vote on authorisation.

Ombudsman criticises Commission failure to inform public how it assessed human rights risks in EU-Tunisia agreement

The Ombudsman has criticised the European Commission for not being transparent about the human rights information it relied on before signing an agreement with Tunisia that includes EU funds for migration management. She suggested the Commission publish a summary of the risk management exercise it had conducted on its website. She also called on the Commission to set out explicit criteria for suspending EU funding due to human rights violations and to encourage organisations monitoring human rights in Tunisia to set up complaint mechanisms where individuals can report alleged violations.

Ombudsman encourages Council to assess risks around use of sponsorship by rotating presidency

The Ombudsman has encouraged the Council of the European Union to assess whether its guidance for corporate sponsorship of its rotating presidency is effective at mitigating potential conflicts of interest and reputational risks for the EU, and to explore possible measures to help mitigate these risks. The Council first adopted the guidance in 2019 following a previous Ombudsman inquiry into the sponsorships issue.

Ethics committee opinions on commissioners’ intended new jobs should be made public, says Ombudsman

The Ombudsman has suggested the European Commission make public all future opinions adopted by the Independent Ethical Committee concerning former commissioners’ post-mandate jobs. Under the Commission’s current practices, if a commissioner withdraws an approval request following a negative opinion from the ethics committee, the committee’s opinion is not published. The Ombudsman noted that publishing these opinions would improve transparency and public scrutiny. At a minimum, the Commission should publish statistics on the negative opinions of the ethics committee and on the approval requests it receives from former commissioners.

Frontex to improve how it handles access to document requests following ombudsman inquiry 

Following an Ombudsman inquiry, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) said it would reconsider its practice of systematically refusing to provide lists of documents it identifies within the scope of access to documents requests. The Ombudsman noted that while this step was positive, it was dissatisfactory that the agency will only do so only in certain circumstances.  The Ombudsman will monitor the implementation of Frontex’s new practice and may revisit the matter in the future.

Ombudsman asks Commission how it works on ‘urgent’ legislative proposals, such as recent amendment to CAP legislation

The Ombudsman has opened an inquiry into how the European Commission works on 'urgent' legislative proposals, such as the recent amendment to the EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), and how it ensures its proposals are consistent with the climate-neutrality goals of the European Climate Law. As a first step, she sent a series of questions to the Commission on topics such as how it observes the principle of evidence-based decision-making in urgent circumstances and if it has internal procedures for deciding on whether to bypass impact assessment requirements.

Ombudsman asks Commission to ensure diversity of expertise on Regulatory Scrutiny Board

The Ombudsman has made a series of suggestions to the European Commission on the composition of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board—a body that reviews and issues opinions on the draft impact assessments that accompany proposals for new EU legislation or evaluations of existing legislation. She has asked the Commission to do more to ensure the Board includes sufficient expertise in macro- and microeconomics, social policy, and environmental policy. She has also asked the Commission to ensure Board members avoid holding meetings with individual interest representatives.

Commission creates complaints handling mechanism for networks that help treat rare diseases

Following a suggestion from the Ombudsman, the Commission has created a complaint mechanism through which people can raise concerns about the activities and functioning of European Reference Networks (ERNs)—virtual networks that help patients with complex or rare diseases by facilitating discussions between healthcare providers from across Europe.

FEATURED READ

Ethics standards in the EU administration

The Ombudsman has published an online web story on ethics standards in the EU administration. The publication provides examples of some of the ethics rules that the EU institutions have in place and how these rules have evolved over time and in response to the Ombudsman’s work.

SPEECHES

Public Ethics and Integrity in the EU - Speech at the Preventing Corruption in Europe Conference

On October 10, the Ombudsman gave a speech in Rome at the Preventing Corruption in Europe Conference, organised by the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority and the European Network for Public Ethics. She spoke about public ethics and integrity issues related to the EU institutions and described the importance of dealing with subtle forms of corruption that, if left unchecked, can lead to systemic integrity failings.

Read the Ombudsman’s speech

11 years as European Ombudsman - the Ombudsman’s speech at an event for stakeholders

“It has been an enormous privilege to have served in this Office for the last 11 years, to have been allowed to observe so closely the workings of this Union, to have, I hope, helped to influence its work in a positive way. The European Ombudsman is a small office with a big mandate: to make sure those who make and enforce the rules that the rest of us have to live by, do so in a way that is just, that is accountable and that always puts the public interest first”.

Read the full speech

Law and Tobacco Control: Global and European Perspectives

During a workshop on tobacco lobbying and the challenges at EU level, organised by the World Health Organisation, the Norwegian Cancer Society, and the McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer, the Ombudsman gave a speech on how the tobacco industry lobbies the EU institutions and the importance of ensuring transparency and preventing undue influence on EU policies.

Read the full speech