# The European Commission’s decision to no longer publish the names of all EU staff members in the online directory of EU staff ('Whoiswho') 
- Author: European Ombudsman
- Date: 2023-11-20T00:00+01:00[Europe/Paris]
- [URL](https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/opening-summary/en/178045)
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| Secretariat‐General Head of Unit - C2 |

Dear Mr X,

The Ombudsman has received a complaint against the European Commission. The complaint concerns the Commission's decision to remove the contact details of staff below head of unit level from the online directory of EU staff ('Whoiswho').

The complainant, Civil Society Europe (CSE), raises concerns about the impact of the decision on accountability and the ability of the public and civil society groups without sufficient resources to have access to the Commission, for example when providing input on policy to the appropriate sections of the Commission or inviting the appropriate staff members to events.

The Ombudsman has decided to open an inquiry into this complaint, and has concluded that it would be useful to receive a reply from the Commission, taking into account the questions set out in the annex. Alternatively, these questions can be discussed at a meeting between the inquiry team and the Commission's representatives.

Please note that I have sent a copy of this letter and related annex to the complainant and am also likely to send your reply and related enclosures to the complainant for comments[^\[1\]^](#_ftn1){#_ftnref1}. We may also decide to publish your reply. The inquiries officer responsible is Ms Emily Tullberg.

I would be grateful to receive the Commission's reply by 15 December 2023.

Yours sincerely,

Rosita Hickey  
Director of Inquiries

Strasbourg, 20/11/2023

ANNEX
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1) Could the Commission provide a detailed explanation of the reasons for the decision, what factors it took into account and what procedure it followed in making the decision? In what way did it consult internally or externally before taking the decision?

2) The Commission publicly stated that one of the reasons behind the decision was to prevent staff members from being subject to *"undue pressure from external sources"*. What evidence did the Commission have that the publication of contact details led to such pressure? How was the extent of this problem assessed? Did it consider other measures to address unsolicited contact from external sources?

3) The Commission claims to be aligning practices with other institutions. Could the Commission elaborate on this and explain what assessment it conducted with other institutions to evaluate the merits of such alignment?

[\[1\]](#_ftnref1){#_ftn1} If you wish to submit documents or information that you consider to be confidential, and which should not be disclosed to the complainant, please mark them 'Confidential'. Encrypted emails can be sent to our dedicated mailbox.Information and documents of this kind will be deleted from the European Ombudsman's files shortly after the inquiry has ended.