Transparency of decision making in the Council of the EU during the COVID-19 crisis

In the context of wider strategic work on the response of the EU administration during the COVID-19 crisis, the Ombudsman has also been examining the work of the Council of the EU, notably as regards the transparency of its decision making. In particular, the Ombudsman has assessed the decision by the Council to derogate, temporarily, from its Rules of Procedure during the crisis, and the implications this has had for its decision-making process and the transparency thereof.

As a first step in this inquiry, the Ombudsman sought to inspect certain documents held by the Council, and set out a series of questions to the Council. The inspection took place in November 2020.