The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, said, on Tuesday 25 April, that the European Commission needs to rethink its policy on access to documents in order to remedy “systemic delays” (see EUROPE 13151/25).
“This is more of a cultural problem” than a need to increase the human resources available, since the delays observed are generally “on major public issues” such as the environment and climate, she said when presenting her 2022 Annual Report to the press.
The European Ombudsman referred to ongoing investigations into the transparency of the use of EU funds under the RRF, the financial arm of the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan, as well as the review of the independence of experts assessing projects supported by the ‘European Defence Fund’.
On the European Parliament’s internal reforms in response to the alleged scandal of bribery of MEPs by third countries, Ms O'Reilly said she was “ concerned” about the ongoing process. According to her, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, will find it difficult to bring the measures into line with her own statements on the “attack on democracy” represented by ‘Qatargate’, because of the pressure she is under within the European Parliament. For example, the agreed waiting period to prohibit a former MEP from immediately lobbying the Parliament has been reduced from 2 years to 6 months (see EUROPE 13164/26).
In addition, Ms O'Reilly mentioned several emerging issues, such as the monitoring of the decision-making process in the face of the rise of instant messaging (the case of the Commission President’s text messages with Pfizer), ethics and the need for accountability in the age of artificial intelligence or during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
To see the European Ombudsman’s annual report: https://aeur.eu/f/6jo (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)