News

The Ombudsman has made three suggestions to the European Commission to improve the process of approving ‘active substances’ – the components in pesticides that act against specific pests or plant diseases – for use in pesticides. 

The Ombudsman asked the Commission to approve active substances only for uses that have been confirmed as safe by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA); to publish an explanation of its approvals of active substances in language easily understandable to the public; and to use the confirmatory data procedure with particular restraint.

In the context of wider strategic work on the response of the EU administration during the COVID-19 crisis, the Ombudsman has been examining the work of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). This inquiry has focused on the ECDC’s role in gathering and communicating information on COVID-19. As the European Commission comes forward with proposals to give greater powers to the ECDC, the Ombudsman hopes that her inquiry can help identify some of the issues that may have hampered the ECDC as it sought to tackle this pandemic.

The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, invites nominations for the third biennial ‘Award for Good Administration’ in the EU institutions. Nominations for the award – to be submitted by end January 2021 – can be made by EU staff, or by businesses, associations or civil society groups. The nominated work should have a visible and positive impact on the lives of EU citizens. Read here the press rele...

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has opened an inquiry to look into how the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) deals with alleged breaches of fundamental rights. In particular, the investigation will assess the effectiveness and transparency of Frontex’s Complaints Mechanism for those who believe their rights have been violated in the context of Frontex border operations, as well as the role and independence of Frontex’s ‘Fundamental Rights Officer’.

The European Ombudsman has opened an inquiry into a complaint from Amnesty International against the European Commission. The inquiry focuses on how the Commission seeks to ensure that the Croatian authorities respect fundamental rights in the context of border management operations.

European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly commends the European Banking Authority (EBA) for agreeing to introduce the measures she recommended to deal with future revolving door situations. This follows her finding that the EBA should not have allowed its former Executive Director to become CEO of a financial lobby association. Read here the press release.

In response to the unprecedented situation created by COVID-19, many of the EU institutions, agencies and bodies were required to adopt targeted measures and/or to adapt their working processes to deal with the challenges of the emergency. These ranged from helping to coordinate the public health response in the EU and the approval of dedicated medicines to economic measures to address the social ...

The European Ombudsman has opened three inquiries related to the disclosure of environmental information by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The inquiries are all based on one complaint by the environmental group, ClientEarth. One inquiry concerns the EIB’s refusal to grant public access to the minutes of meetings in which its management committee discussed the financing of a biomass project. T...

The Ombudsman has opened an inquiry into why the European Commission did not finalise an updated Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) before the conclusion of the Mercosur-EU trade agreement in June 2019.

The complainants - five civil society organisations - argue that by not taking this step the Commission disregarded its own guidelines on SIAs and breached the EU Treaty, which contains sustainability goals for all EU trade.

The Ombudsman is investigating the European Commission’s decision to award BlackRock Investment Management a contract for carrying out a study on integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and objectives into the EU banking supervision system.

As part of the inquiry, which seeks to examine how the Commission assessed the risk of conflicts of interest posed by BlackRock’s tender, the Ombudsman plans to inspect the Commission’s file and to discuss the matter with the Commission.