Head of Unit
Secretariat‐General
Unit SG.A.3 - Transparency & Ethics
European Commission

 

Dear Ms X,

The Ombudsman has received a complaint against the European Commission. The complaint concerns how the Commission dealt with the ‘Fur Free Europe’ European Citizens’ Initiative. More specifically, the complainants take issue with the Commission’s failure:

(1) to reply to a meeting request of 12 December 2025 of the Fur Free Europe Citizens’ Initiative Committee;

(2) to ensure balanced stakeholder involvement in the decisive phase of the European Citizens’ Initiative concerned;

(3) to gather and take into account evidence in this context, including the relevant scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA);

(4) to comply with the deadlines under the EU legislation on public access to documents (Regulation 1049/2001) in replying to two related access requests[1] and the Commission’s refusal of access to the requested documents.

According to the information provided to the Ombudsman’s Office, the Commission has to date not replied to the complainants’ meeting request of 12 December 2025 (1). The Ombudsman would suggest, if you have not yet done so, that you now reply to the complainants and inform her Office when it is done. She would be grateful if you could send your reply before the date by which the Commission intends to adopt its final position on the ECI (announced for March 2026).

The Ombudsman also notes that, if the Commission had replied to the meeting request, the complainants’ concerns in relation to balanced stakeholder involvement (2) and evidence-based decision-making (3) could have been raised with the Commission directly in this context. In that regard, the Ombudsman has informed the complainants that she is unable to inquire in substance into these aspects of the complaint at this stage. The Ombudsman would need to be in possession of the Commission’s position on these elements before determining whether an inquiry is warranted. Therefore, the Ombudsman would be grateful if the Commission could address these elements of the complaint in its reply to the meeting request.

Finally, the Ombudsman would like to inform the Commission that the public access aspects of the complaint (4) will be dealt with separately. She will contact the Commission on this matter as soon as possible.

The inquiries officer responsible for the case is Paulien Van de Velde-Van Rumst.

Attached to this e‐mail, please find a copy of the complaint.

Yours sincerely,

Rosita Hickey
Director of Inquiries

Strasbourg, 02/03/2026

 

[1] Your references: EASE 2025/5654 and EASE 2025/5679.