Dear President,

I have received a complaint from a non-governmental organisation concerning the EU Transparency Register, for which the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission have joint responsibility. I am addressing this complaint to you, as I understand that the European Commission is the current coordinator of the secretariat of the Transparency Register. However, I have also informed the President of European Parliament and the Secretary General of the Council of this complaint.

The complainant is concerned that the secretariat of the Transparency Register did not properly assess two complaints regarding the information provided on the Transparency Register by a consultancy firm and an association that advocates against the nutriscore labelling system on food products.[1] The complainant contends that these entities failed to disclose their links with the food industry and provided misleading information about the relationship between them, the interests they represent and the sources of their funding, which it claims is not in line with the Register’s Code of Conduct.[2]

The secretariat opened two investigations and found that these entities provided satisfactory replies and updated their information. It thus decided to close the investigations.

While I note that the secretariat did provide additional explanations to the complainant in its e-mail of 19 July 2022, the explanations were of a general nature and did not allow the complainant to understand either the steps taken by the secretariat on the matter or the full reasoning behind its decisions. In particular, I note that the complainant raises concerns about the potential affiliation of the consultancy with the association and it is not clear how the secretariat took this information into account.

The Transparency Register is of particular importance when it comes to ensuring a transparent and ethical EU administration and maintaining the trust of EU citizens in the legitimacy of the EU decision-making process. The Register allows, in this regard, the public to monitor the activities of interest representatives who seek to influence EU legislation and policies.[3] It is thus of primary importance that the information provided on the register is complete and accurate.

On this basis, I have decided to open an inquiry into this complaint in order to get a better understanding of how the secretariat of the Transparency Register handled the complaints and assessed the information provided on the Register by the entities concerned.

For the purpose of this inquiry, it would be useful to inspect all documents related to the matter at stake, in particular the reports and reasoned opinions adopted in relation to the investigations into these two complaints, as well as all related assessments conducted and correspondence between the complainant, the secretariat and the registrants.

I would also like my inquiry team to meet with the relevant representatives of the secretariat of the Transparency Register. This meeting will allow my inquiry team to address any questions we may have on the inspected documents and on the complaint procedure itself. A non-confidential version of the meeting and inspection report will be shared with the complainant for its information. Please note that both this opening letter and a non-confidential version of the meeting and inspection report will also be published on the Ombudsman’s website.  

I would be grateful if your office could contact the inquiries officer who is in charge of the case, Ms X , to agree the arrangements for the inspection and meeting. It would be helpful to receive the documents, preferably in electronic format,^[4] before 16 May 2023 and for the meeting to take place shortly thereafter.

Yours sincerely,

Emily O'Reilly

European Ombudsman

 

[1] Complaints references no TR-C-2022-182 & TR-C-2022-183

[2] Annex I of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 20 May 2021 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on a mandatory transparency register: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_interinstit/2021/611/oj

[3] In SI/7/2016/KR, the Ombudsman made suggestions to improve the Register : https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/correspondence/en/115768.

[4] Copies of confidential documents can be sent through encrypted email. Please clearly mark such material ‘Confidential’. Encrypted emails can be sent to our dedicated mailbox. Information or documents that the Secretariat of the Transparency Register considers to be confidential will not be disclosed to the complainant or any other person without your prior agreement. Information and documents of this kind will be deleted from the European Ombudsman’s files shortly after the inquiry has ended.