Brussels, 14/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 May, the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, opened an investigation into the composition and transparency of the hundreds of expert groups created by the European Commission in order to obtain a technical opinion in the relevant areas of expertise.
Initially, the European Ombudsman will seek the opinions of interested persons on how balanced these expert groups are, in other words their ability to include several different points of view. She will also be asking how transparently these groups work and what problems arise from the “individual” involvement of an expert from a specific interest group background.
“The Commission relies heavily on the advice of hundreds of expert groups to draw up legislation and policy, covering areas from tax and banking services, to road safety and pharmaceuticals. It is of utmost importance for these groups to be balanced and work as transparently as possible”, said O'Reilly in a press release.
More specifically, the Ombudsman will make sure that the composition of the 14 “civil dialogue groups” which will serve as advisory bodies in the reform of the common agriculture policy (CAP) include a broad range of organisations, representing interests of an economic and non-economic nature.
This investigation is the first in a series launched by O'Reilly on her own initiative, in order to tackle systemic problems related to the institutional architecture of the EU. (MB)