The complaint to the Commission

1. The complainant sent to the European Commission documents which, in his view, demonstrated that the national authorities of Ireland had misled the Commission in an infringement case that the Commission had closed[1]. He asked the Commission to reopen the case. He also said that he would make a new complaint to the Commission about the Irish authorities.

The Commission’s response to the complainant

2. The Commission replied, first, that the case was closed and that it could not reopen it. It then said that it can, in some circumstances, reopen a case. It referred the complainant to its Communication on Application of EU Law[2]. In the event the complainant wanted the Commission to examine his complaint, it invited him to use the standard complaint form which is available on its website.

3. The complainant was not satisfied with the Commission’s response and turned to the Ombudsman. He took the view that the Commission should reopen the case.

The European Ombudsman's findings

4. It is difficult to understand why the Commission first told the complainant that it could not reopen a closed infringement case and then told the complainant that, in certain circumstances, it could. It is not surprising that the complainant felt the need to revert to the Commission to seek clarity and to subsequently turn to the Ombudsman.

5. The Ombudsman understands that it is only in some circumstances, in particular when the complainant provides new facts or arguments, that the Commission would reopen a closed infringement case. The Commission has not, however, explicitly set out to the complainant what those circumstances might be. In this case, the Commission seems to be of the view that, based on the information it has, those circumstances are not present.

6. The Commission has suggested to the complainant that he consider making a new complaint, using the standard complaint form. This will allow him to provide all the information necessary to enable the Commission to determine how to proceed.

7. The complainant has said that he will make a new complaint to the Commission. Should he be dissatisfied with the Commission’s assessment of his new infringement complaint, he may make a new complaint to the Ombudsman.

8. Based on the information provided by the complainant, the Ombudsman considers that no further inquiries into the complaint are justified.[3]

 

Marta Hirsch-Ziembińska

Head of Inquiries and ICT - Unit 1

Strasbourg, 17/12/2018

 

[1] The infringement case dealt with illegal landfill sites in Ireland.

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/communication-commission-eu-law-better-results-through-better-application_en

[3] This complaint has been dealt with under delegated case handling, in accordance with Article 11 of the Decision of the European Ombudsman adopting Implementing Provisions