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DRAFT REPORT (2023/2120(INI))

On the annual report on the activities of the European Ombudsman in 2022

PETI-PR-751674

Committee on Petitions · Rapporteur: Peter Jahr

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Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

The draft report approves the European Ombudsman's 2022 annual report and praises Emily O'Reilly's work on accountability and transparency in the EU administration. It welcomes Ombudsman inquiries into conflicts of interest, 'revolving doors' at the Commission and the European Central Bank, and transparency of recovery funds and agricultural plans. It supports calls for better access to documents, a new complaint portal for human rights abuses, and monitoring of the UN disability convention. It encourages cooperation with national ombudsmen and the Committee on Petitions, and asks the President to forward the resolution to the Council, Commission, Ombudsman and member states.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that Parliament approve the Ombudsman's 2022 annual report, welcome her inquiries into ethics, revolving doors, transparency and fundamental rights, and support her recommendations to the Commission, ECB, EIB and Frontex.

Key points

  1. Parliament approves the Ombudsman's 2022 annual report and congratulates Emily O'Reilly on her work improving EU administrative practices and document accessibility.
  2. It appreciates the Ombudsman's constructive cooperation with Parliament and other EU institutions.
  3. It acknowledges the own-initiative inquiry into transparency of the Commission's interactions with tobacco industry representatives.
  4. It endorses the Ombudsman's examination of conflicts of interest of external experts evaluating European Defence Fund project proposals.
  5. It welcomes the Commission's proposal to amend the Financial Regulation to allow rejection of tenderers with conflicts of interest, following the BlackRock case.
  6. It welcomes Commission improvements on 'revolving doors', including faster publishing of staff moves and a ban on unpaid-leave staff taking risky employment.
  7. It welcomes the Ombudsman's inquiry into European Central Bank 'revolving doors' and supports stricter cooling-off rules and a longer lobbying ban.
  8. It welcomes scrutiny of the European Investment Bank's environmental and financial information publishing, and a policy paper on transparency in COVID-19 recovery funds.
  9. It supports calls for the Commission to disclose more on CAP strategic plans and to better represent farmers and civil society in meetings with interest representatives.
  10. It stresses timely handling of access to documents requests and welcomes Commission resources for this, and notes recommendations on recording text and instant messages.
  11. It supports a new complaint portal for alleged human rights abuses and notes the strategic inquiry into Frontex's fundamental rights obligations.
  12. It welcomes guidelines on multilingual policies, the updated Ombudsman Statute, monitoring of the UN disability convention, and cooperation with national ombudsmen and the Committee on Petitions.

Who is affected

  • The European Commission, which faces calls to improve transparency, conflict-of-interest rules and access to documents.
  • The European Central Bank, asked to apply stricter rules on staff moves to the private sector.
  • The European Investment Bank, whose activities will be scrutinised more closely.
  • Frontex, asked to improve accountability and its complaints mechanism for fundamental rights breaches.
  • EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, which must follow Ombudsman recommendations on communication and transparency.

Figures and deadlines

  • 348 inquiries opened in 2022, of which 344 complaint-based and 4 own-initiative.
  • 330 inquiries closed in 2022, of which 325 complaint-based and 5 own-initiative.
  • 197 inquiries (57.1%) concerned the Commission.
  • 22 inquiries (6.3%) concerned the European Personnel Selection Office.
  • 19 inquiries (5.5%) concerned Parliament.
  • 16 inquiries (4.6%) concerned the European External Action Service.
  • No maladministration found in 37% of closed cases; solution settled in 46.1%; maladministration found in 4.5%.
  • Top concerns: transparency and accountability (32%), culture of service (20%), respect for fundamental rights (15%).

Legal basis: Article 10(3) TEU; Articles 15, 24(3), 228 and 298(1) TFEU.