28/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - European Ombudsman Jacob Söderman has provisionally put an end to the inquiry that he had opened in February 2001 on the subject of the freedom of expression of European officials. The Ombudsman considers the two measures that the European Commission plans to take in the near future (an administrative guide providing an interpretation of the provisions of the Statute of Officials and amendments to Article 17 paragraph 2 of this text) should suffice for guaranteeing the freedom of officials and transparency, while clarifying the duties of officials. Mr Söderman will nonetheless continue to follow the dossier through and reserves himself the right to take up the initiative again if necessary.