The complainant, an environmental civil society organisation, asked the European Commission to give public access to documents concerning the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the ceramics industry reported under the EU's emissions trading system. The Commission identified 25 documents as falling under the scope of the request but disclosed only one document. In refusing access to the remainder, the Commission invoked an exception under the EU's legislation on public access to documents, arguing that disclosure could undermine the protection of commercial interests.

The Ombudsman opened an inquiry and sought to inspect the documents in question.