The case concerned a request from a journalist to the European Commission to give public access to the contents of a database used to audit how national authorities pay subsidies to farmers under the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The Commission argued that the database was not designed to provide a detailed breakdown of individual payments, along the lines sought by the complainant. Because of this and for reasons of data protection, the Commission therefore could not grant access to the information requested.

The Ombudsman agrees with the complainant that there should be greater transparency around payments under the CAP. However, she found that the Commission is subject to a number of legal constraints regarding public access to the records of payments made to individual farmers, and found the Commission's explanation about the limits of the database to be correct. In these circumstances, she considered that the Commission gives appropriate access to the aggregated data contained in the database, and closed the inquiry with a finding of no maladministration. However, as she considers there should be greater transparency around these payments, the Ombudsman will bring this to the attention of the EU's legislators by forwarding this decision to them.