Trilogues and transparent law-making

Event organised by the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly

28 September 2015, 10.00 – 12.00

European Parliament, Brussels, room JAN 4Q1

The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, is currently inquiring into the issue of "trilogues" with a view to boosting transparent law-making in the EU. Hundreds of these informal negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission take place every year. Now an established feature of how the EU adopts laws, trilogues are where deals are done that affect EU citizens, businesses and organisations.

Parliament, Council and Commission have a Treaty obligation and an interest in legislating as openly as possible to maintain public trust. What is the right balance between the 'space to negotiate' and greater transparency?

The Ombudsman has asked the three institutions for information about their transparency policies as regards trilogue documents. She is expecting a reply in the autumn.

The Ombudsman would like to facilitate a debate about how trilogues could be made more transparent and where non-disclosure of documents needs to be maintained.

Speakers

Emily O'Reilly, European Ombudsman

Malcolm Harbour, former MEP and IMCO chair, Senior Advisor at the European Policy Centre

Vicky Marissen, PACT European Affairs

Jorgo Riss, Greenpeace Europe

Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law, HEC Paris, Global Clinical Professor, NYU School of Law

Moderator

James Crisp, EurActiv

Video

Twitter

Join the twitter debate at #trilogues