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DRAFT REPORT (2024/XXXX(INI))

On the annual report on the activities of the European Ombudsman in 2023

PETI-PR-763122

Committee on Petitions · Rapporteur: Alex Agius Saliba

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The draft report approves the European Ombudsman's 2023 annual report and commends her work. It addresses systemic delays in the Commission's handling of public access to documents requests, which the Ombudsman found to be maladministration, and urges the Council to negotiate on revising Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. The report covers various Ombudsman inquiries on fundamental rights, ethics, transparency, and personnel issues, supporting recommendations to improve EU administration practices.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that Parliament approve the Ombudsman's 2023 annual report and adopt the attached resolution, which includes calls for action on transparency, ethics, and fundamental rights.

Key points

  1. Approves the Ombudsman's 2023 annual report and congratulates Emily O'Reilly for her work enhancing accountability and transparency of EU institutions.
  2. Welcomes the Ombudsman's guide to accessing EU documents to raise citizens' awareness of their right of access.
  3. Worried by the finding that the Commission's systemic delays in handling access to documents requests amount to maladministration; calls on the Commission to correct this as a matter of priority and to dedicate more resources to confirmatory requests.
  4. Urges the Council to engage in negotiations on revising Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 to make the EU institutions role models of transparency.
  5. Calls on the Commission to be more mindful of the overriding public interest when assessing disclosure of documents on emissions into the environment.
  6. Supports the Ombudsman's efforts to uphold fundamental rights in border management, including inquiries into Frontex and the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding.
  7. Strongly supports the Ombudsman's conclusions that EU ethical and anticorruption rules need to be respected and strengthened, and urges attention to lobbying practices in Parliament.
  8. Finds it problematic that the Commission is not required to make public the names of experts consulted on European Defence Fund projects; invites reflection on increasing transparency.
  9. Supports the Ombudsman's call on the European Investment Bank to improve rules on conflicts of interest and to continue focusing on revolving door moves by senior staff.
  10. Encourages the Commission to increase transparency regarding the Recovery and Resilience Facility and to improve handling of access to RRF-related documents.
  11. Calls on EPSO to improve recruitment procedures by ensuring technical requirements do not disadvantage candidates and to offer the option of in-person tests.
  12. Highlights the importance of the Ombudsman's work on the rights of persons with disabilities and calls for all EU institutions to pay attention to her recommendations.

Who is affected

  • The European Commission, which is urged to address delays in handling access to documents requests and to improve transparency in various areas.
  • The Council of the European Union, which is urged to negotiate on revising Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
  • The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), which is called on to improve recruitment procedures.
  • The European Investment Bank, which is called on to improve rules on conflicts of interest.
  • Persons with disabilities, who are affected by the Ombudsman's inquiries and the call for better implementation of the UN CRPD.

Figures and deadlines

  • 398 inquiries opened in 2023, of which 393 were complaint-based and 5 own-initiative.
  • 250 inquiries concerned the Commission (62.81 %).
  • Maladministration was found in 7.3 % of closed inquiries.
  • Transparency and accountability was the top concern in 34.2 % of closed inquiries.
  • The Commission misses deadlines in 85 % of cases when asked to review access to documents decisions.

Legal basis: Articles 10(3) TEU, 15, 24(3), 228 and 298(1) TFEU, and Articles 11, 41, 42 and 43 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.