President European Commission Belgium

 

 

Dear President,

I have received a complaint against the European Commission. The complaint concerns the Commission’s refusal[1] to grant public access to the opinion of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) related to the legislative initiative on Multimodal Digital Mobility Services of September 2023.

In its initial reply of March 2025, the Commission refused access to the relevant RSB opinion in its entirety. In doing so, it relied on an exception under the EU legislation on public access to documents (Regulation 1049/2001), arguing that disclosure of the document would undermine its ongoing decision-making process[2] on the legislative initiative. The complainant asked the Commission to review its position (by making a ‘confirmatory application’), challenging the Commission’s application of the exception and stressing that a particularly high standard of transparency applies to legislative documents.

In its reply of December 2025, the Commission confirmed its refusal of access. It underlined the sensitive nature of the legislative initiative and the difficulty to find consensus on it. The Commission added that it was under considerable external pressure and it referred, for instance, to the railway undertakings organisation (CER) circumventing standard stakeholder dialogue and turning directly to the RSB[3]. Finally, the Commission pointed out that the opinion dates from September 2023 and that it has, in the meantime, substantially revised the previous impact assessment. Therefore, it considered that disclosure of the opinion would lead to misunderstandings and confusion, diverting the ongoing discussions from the policy options that are currently under consideration.  

In its complaint, the complainant takes issue with the Commission’s failure to respect the statutory timelines for replying to the request as well as with the refusal of access. More specifically, it considered that disclosure of the RSB opinion would allow stakeholders to understand why the RSB rejected the initial impact assessment and ensure a level playing field.

I have decided to open an inquiry into the Commission’s decision to refuse access under Regulation 1049/2001.

Regulation 1049/2001 states that applications for access should be handled promptly. It is in line with this principle that I also seek to deal with cases such as this as quickly as possible.

As a first step, I consider it necessary to review the RSB opinion at issue as well as its cover note and the CER letter referred to in the confirmatory decision. I would be grateful if the Commission could provide a copy of these documents, preferably in electronic format through encrypted e-mail,[4] by 19 May 2026.

The documents subject to the public access request will be treated confidentially, along with any other material the Commission chooses to share with my Office that it marks confidential. Documents of this kind will be handled and stored in line with this confidential status and will be deleted from the Ombudsman’s files shortly after the inquiry has ended.

The Commission’s position has been set out in its confirmatory reply of 12 December 2025. However, should the Commission wish to provide additional views, to be taken into account during my inquiry, I would be grateful if they could be provided to my Office within fifteen working days from the receipt of this letter, that is, by 3 June 2026.

I also take note of the complainant’s concerns about the Commission’s delay in dealing with this access request. While I regret this delay, I have decided not to open an inquiry into the reasons for the Commission’s delay to reply in this specific case. I informed the complainant that I am aware that the Commission continues to incur delays in dealing with public access requests and that I am closely monitoring the matter based on complaints submitted to me.

The inquiries officer responsible for the case is Ms Paulien Van de Velde-Van Rumst.

Yours sincerely,

Teresa Anjinho
European Ombudsman

Strasbourg, 08/05/2026

 

[1] Under Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32001R1049.

[2] Article 4(3), first subparagraph of Regulation 1049/2001.

[3] CER letter to Mr Rytis Martikonis, Chair of the RSB, 24 July 2025, Ares(2025)10333174.

[4] Encrypted emails can be sent to our dedicated mailbox.