The case concerns how the European Commission is handling an infringement complaint against Ireland concerning the conditions for the transportation of young calves that are still on a milk diet. The complainant considered that the time taken by the Commission to deal with the infringement complaint was not reasonable.

The Ombudsman found that the Commission is following the situation closely. The investigation is ongoing, and there have been continuous and regular communication and meetings between the Commission and the national authorities on the matter.

Therefore, the Ombudsman closed the inquiry with the conclusion that there had been no maladministration.

The case originally concerned the European Commission’s failure to keep the complainant informed on the state of play of an infringement complaint about the compliance of certain Spanish legislation with EU data protection rules and the e-Commerce Directive.

The Ombudsman requested the Commission to inform the complainant of the status of the complaint, the reasons for the delay in assessing it, and the Commission’s plan of action in this case. As the Commission did not provide sufficiently detailed information to the complainant, the Ombudsman’s inquiry team also met with the Commission representatives and inspected the Commission file to better understand how the Commission was handling the infringement complaint.

The Ombudsman found that, while there was a period of time when the Commission was not active on the file, once the relevant Spanish legislation became fully applicable, it regularly engaged with the national authorities and assessed the case. The Ombudsman also found that, although the Commission did not provide timely information to the complainant, which is regrettable, it provided detailed explanations during this inquiry concerning the time taken to handle the infringement complaint and its status. Moreover, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Spain during the inquiry regarding the first aspect of the infringement complaint.

Therefore, the Ombudsman closed the inquiry with the conclusion that no further inquiries were justified.

The case concerned a staff member of the European Central Bank (ECB) who considered that he was harassed by his line manager. He complained about this in early 2021. The ECB launched an administrative inquiry, and at the same time assigned the complainant to another workplace in the ECB for his own protection.

The administrative inquiry took two and half years, and was closed three years after the complainant first asked for help. The administrative inquiry found that the complainant had been harassed, and formally initiated a disciplinary procedure against the line manager.

During the ECB’s follow-up to the outcome of the administrative inquiry, the complainant turned to the Ombudsman. He alleged that there were unreasonable delays in the process.

In the course of the Ombudsman’s inquiry, the ECB finalised the disciplinary procedure and the complainant eventually returned to his main workplace.

The Ombudsman found that there had been unreasonable delays in all phases of the ECB’s handling of the matter, and that the ECB had failed to address important issues in its follow-up. The Ombudsman therefore proposed a solution to the ECB, namely that it apologise, pay compensation and ensure meaningful internal communication to staff about the harassment case.

In its reply to the Ombudsman’s proposal for a solution, the ECB expressed regret for what had happened. It organised additional internal communication about the harassment case. It did not, however, find that it had the elements necessary for considering financial compensation. The Ombudsman found that the harm that was caused by the ECB’s handling of the complainant’s harassment case had regrettably not been repaired by the ECB’s response to the proposal for a solution. However, as a recommendation reiterating the same points would not appear to be useful, the Ombudsman closed the inquiry with suggestions for systemic improvements and again asking the ECB to engage with the complainant to identify the relevant financial consequences of its maladministration.

The case concerned the time taken by the European Commission to conclude its assessment of an infringement complaint against Spain made in 2018. The infringement complaint concerned the legislative changes introduced in 2014 in the Spanish Ports Act and the subsequent extension, by the port authority of the Balearic Islands, of the duration of concessions to carry out recreational water sport activities on the port public domain. In their infringement complaint, the complainant argued, in essence, that the said legislative changes and the extension, by the port authority of the Balearic Islands, of the duration of the concessions breached Articles 49, 56 and 106 TFEU.

The Ombudsman found that the Commission failed to demonstrate that it had been diligent and active on the case, and that it failed to provide convincing reasons to explain why it had not been able to finalise its assessment after more than seven years. The Ombudsman considered that this constituted maladministration and made a recommendation that the Commission should finalise its assessment without further delay. The Ombudsman also identified issues related to information provided to the complainant and record-keeping in relation to the EU Pilot dialogue that the Commission conducted with Spain and she made two corresponding suggestions for improvement in that regard.

While the Commission opened a new pre-infringement dialogue (formerly known as EU Pilot dialogue) with Spain following the opening of the Ombudsman’s inquiry, the Commission had not finalised its assessment of the infringement complaint when the Ombudsman was closing this case. Nor had it provided a reasonable justification for the time taken. As such, the Ombudsman confirmed her finding of maladministration. The Ombudsman will continue to monitor the Commission’s record-keeping in relation to pre-infringement dialogues as well as the way it communicates with complainants when closing those dialogues.