The complainant asked the Council of the EU to give public access to an opinion of its 'legal service' on the proposed EU directive on adequate minimum wages. The Council granted access to only parts of the opinion in May 2021. It invoked an exception under the EU legislation on public access to documents to justify redacting information in the document, arguing that full disclosure could undermine a decision-making procedure (still ongoing at the time) and the related legal advice.

The Ombudsman found that the Council had not demonstrated how disclosing the document would undermine its decision-making process, and that its refusal to grant full public access to the legal opinion constituted maladministration. She therefore recommended that the Council grant full public access to the document.