The European Commission risks compromising the integrity of the EU administration without a more robust approach to the movement of staff to the private sector, said European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly on Wednesday 18 May, following a broad inquiry into so-called ‘revolving door’ practices.
Although the Commission has made improvements since the Ombudsman’s last inquiry, it is encouraged to do more.
The recommendations made by the European Ombudsman include: - forbid jobs temporarily if they pose risks that cannot be offset by restrictions or if restrictions cannot credibly be monitored and enforced; - make approval of a staff member’s new employment conditional on obtaining a commitment from the new employer to publish any restrictions on its website; - publish the decisions on staff members’ new jobs faster.
“Sometimes it takes a year or two from the time the decision is made to the publication of the decision” on the green light for the new job, Emily O’Reilly lamented at a press conference. Moreover, there is no control of restrictions, she added.
The EU administration is at a critical stage in its handling of ‘revolving doors’. “Failing to control the practice now will allow the embedding of a culture that may erode public confidence in the integrity and expertise of the EU institutions”, Mrs O’Reilly warned.
The inquiry covered a sample of 100 decisions taken by the Commission between 2019 and 2021 in 14 Directorates-General, all Commissioner cabinets, the Commission’s Legal Service, and the Secretariat-General. Of these 100 decisions, the Commission has only prohibited two posts. The Ombudsman did not find maladministration in her findings (https://aeur.eu/f/1or ).
Annual report 2021. The European Ombudsman’s services have also published the Annual Report 2021, which shows, among other things, that complaints about transparency and accountability account for the largest proportion of inquiries (29%). The report describes the Ombudsman’s work to improve public access to documents.
The report also provides details of a series of inquiries, including whether the Frontex complaints mechanism can be made more accessible, how the Commission ensures that the Croatian authorities respect fundamental rights in the context of border management operations, and how the European Investment Bank should improve transparency about the projects it finances.
In 2021, the Ombudsman opened 338 inquiries, six of which were on her own initiative, the average duration for an inquiry
was less than 4 months.
The Annual Report also features the new logo officially launched today by the European Ombudsman. It represents the mission and values of the office: accountability, transparency, and trust.
The Ombudsman is still waiting for a reply to a request for public access to text messages between the President of the European Commission and the CEO of Pfizer (see EUROPE 12879/16).
In the context of previous inquiries relating to the European Banking Authority and the European Defence Agency,
the Ombudsman found that both should have temporarily forbidden the jobs in question. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)