European Ombudswoman Anjinho has opened an inquiry into the European Commission’s decision not to carry out an impact assessment on two legislative proposals to counter migrant smuggling.

The decision to open an inquiry follows a complaint by civil society organisations who argue that the Commission breached its ‘Better Regulation Guidelines’ by not carrying out an impact assessment when preparing the proposals.

Their complaint relates to the preparation of the directive on enhancing police cooperation on the prevention, detection and investigation of migrant smuggling as well as the regulation to prevent and counter the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit, and stay in the Union.

 As a first step, the Ombudswoman has asked the Commission a series of questions including about the reasoning for not carrying out an impact assessment. The Commission is also asked to explain the urgency behind the legislative proposals.

This is the third ongoing inquiry by the European Ombudsman Office in relation to whether the Commission has followed the necessary rules as it prepares legislative proposals.

The other inquiries are related to how the Commission prepared a proposal to amend legislation related to the Common Agricultural Policy and how the Commission prepared a legislative proposal on corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence.