European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has concluded that the European Commission’s response to her findings related to the preparation of urgent legislative proposals is overall constructive,  but remains too general to allow her to determine whether future urgent law-making will be sufficiently transparent, evidence-based, and inclusive. The Ombudswoman will therefore continue to monitor the situation through future complaints.

In closing her inquiries into how the Commission prepared three urgent legislative proposals, the Ombudswoman noted that the measures the Commission intends to take are described in general terms only and are often lacking in specificity and concrete commitments.

The Commission’s subsequent Communication on how it intends to reform the Better Regulation rules also does not contain sufficient detail to draw conclusions about whether all the principles of good law-making will be upheld in urgent situations and whether the Ombudswoman’s recommendations and suggestions will be fully followed.

The Ombudswoman found that there remains a risk that urgent procedures could become the prevalent way of EU law-making if the notion of “urgency” is not clearly defined. The Ombudswoman also noted that there is a lack of detail about the procedural and law-making standards the Commission will apply for what it considers to be smaller revisions of EU legislation (targeted initiatives).

In addition, she questioned whether the Commission’s intention to use ‘calls for evidence’ during accelerated law-making will ensure sufficient stakeholder engagement.

The Ombudswoman will be able to better assess these matters once the Commission has revised its Better Regulation rules and applied them in the preparation of future legislative proposals.

Background

In November 2025, the Ombudswoman found a number of procedural shortcomings in how the Commission prepared fast-track legislative proposals concerning corporate sustainability due diligence (Omnibus I), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and countering migrant smuggling.

In her recommendations to the Commission, she asked it to ensure a predictable, consistent, and non-arbitrary application of the Better Regulation rules and that future urgent preparation of legislative proposals is always transparent, evidence-based, and inclusive.

The Better Regulation Guidelines set out the rules that the Commission follows when preparing new initiatives and proposals as well as when managing and evaluating existing legislation.

The Commission responded to the Ombudsman’s recommendation in February 2026 and published a Communication outlining its intention to revise the Better Regulation rules in April 2026.