President European Commission

 

 

Dear President,

I would like to express my appreciation for the Commission’s constructive engagement in this inquiry, in particular its detailed response of 12 February 2026 and the comprehensive documents provided for inspection, including the documents and additional information obtained from the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs).

The Commission’s detailed response and documents have clarified several key aspects of its role in overseeing the standardisation process under the AI Act, particularly regarding its monitoring mechanisms, the involvement of its officials in the Joint Technical Committee 21 (JTC 21), as well as efforts made to ensure the process to be inclusive.

At the same time, I consider that important issues remain to be addressed, particularly concerning the transparency of the standardisation process, and what legal instruments the Commission possesses to increase the transparency of this process. The complainant has raised concerns about transparency, especially the lack of public access to the meeting agendas and minutes of JTC 21 and its working groups, as well as the composition of JTC 21. In this regard, the complainant has proposed introducing transparency measures analogous to those applicable to the Commission’s expert groups.

These are significant issues given the status of harmonised standards as part of EU law, and their potential impact on fundamental rights. While the Court of Justice has ruled that there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of finalised and approved harmonised standards,[1] it did not take a position on whether there may also be an overriding public interest in disclosure of documents related to the standardisation process, such as the agendas and minutes of meetings, as well as the list of participants in the process.

I have thus decided that it is now necessary for my inquiry team to meet with representatives of the Commission to explore these matters in greater depth. The discussion will focus on whether the Commission has legal instruments to require more transparency from the ESOs during the standardisation process,[2] how the Commission would handle requests for public access to documents concerning this process. My inquiry team will share the relevant questions with the Commission’s representatives before the meeting.

I would be grateful if the Commission’s relevant staff could contact Mr Michał Krajewski, who is in charge of this inquiry, to agree on the arrangements for the meeting to take place before 16 June 2026.

Yours sincerely,

Teresa Anjinho
European Ombudsman

Strasbourg, 30/04/2026

 

[1] Judgment of the Court of Justice of 5 March 2024, Public.Resource.Org Inc. v Commission, Case C‑588/21 P, https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=283443&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=26696941.

[2] Including in light of Regulation 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on European standardisation (...), OJ L 316/12, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/1025/oj/eng.