The complainants are two researchers recruited under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) who, due to the COVID-19 crisis, could not continue the research work foreseen under the respective grants. The Ombudsman's inquiry focused on how the Commission communicated with organisations, such as universities, that received grants under the MSCA about the measures they could take to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on their projects and the work of the researchers recruited to carry out the work on those projects.

The Ombudsman set out her preliminary findings to the Commission and urged it to make one final effort to seek to resolve the issues faced by the research community.