Dear Mr X,

On 10 July 2025, you submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman against the European Commission concerning the above issue. On 25 July 2025, you sent an additional letter to the Ombudsman about the same issue.

In your complaint to the Commission, you appear to claim, in summary, that the Commission has failed to act against systematic violations of the rule of law and fundamental rights committed, in your opinion, by Spain.

In your letter of 25 July 2025 to the Ombudsman, you contend that the Commission was wrong to close your case. You argue, in summary, that the situation in Spain, described in your complaint to the Commission, does not constitute an isolated problem and that the Commission has a duty to act in such cases.

After careful analysis of all the information you provided to the Ombudsman, it was decided to close the inquiry with the following conclusion:

There was no maladministration by the European Commission.

The Commission enjoys wide discretion in deciding whether and when to commence an infringement procedure.[1] Its policy on infringements of EU law is set out in its Communication ’EU law: Better results through better application’.[2] The role of the Ombudsman in cases such as these is to verify whether there has been any manifest error of assessment and whether the Commission has provided clear and reasonable explanations.

Based on the information provided in your letters of 10 July 2025 and 25 July 2025 to the Ombudsman, there is no evidence that there was any manifest error of assessment by the Commission. The Commission provided reasonable explanations for its decision to close the case. As the Commission informed you, it has no general powers to intervene with a Member State in an individual case. The Commission has the discretion to take the view that your case does not constitute evidence of a systemic failure of Spain to comply with EU law. The Commission also informed you that your case can best be dealt with at national level and advised you to seek judicial redress there. The Commission also has the discretion to take this view.

The Commission further informed you about how it monitors the functioning of the judicial systems in the Member States, including Spain, and provided you with a link to the EU Justice Scoreboard 2025.

I appreciate this may not be your desired outcome, but I hope you find these explanations helpful. Thank you for having contacted the European Ombudsman.

Yours sincerely,

Tina Nilsson
Head of the Case-handling Unit

Strasbourg, 11/08/2025

 

[1] Judgment of the Court of 14 February 1989, Starfruit v Commission, case 247/87, available at: https://eurlex. europa.eu/legal -content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:61987CJ0247.

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal -content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52017XC0119(01)&from=EN

[3] Full information on the procedure and rights pertaining to complaints can be found at  

  https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/document/70707