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Activities of the European Ombudsman - annual report 2023

TA-10-2024-0063 · P10_TA(2024)0063 · PE763.122

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Parliament approves the European Ombudsman's 2023 annual report and praises the Ombudsman's work. It calls on the Commission to fix systemic delays in handling public access to documents and to improve transparency. The resolution urges revision of the EU public access regulation, stresses the need for transparency in lobbying and ethics, and supports the Ombudsman's inquiries on fundamental rights, disabilities, and conflicts of interest.

Key points

  1. Approves the annual report for 2023 and congratulates Emily O'Reilly on her work supporting democracy and transparency.
  2. Calls on the Commission to improve handling of public access requests, respect deadlines in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, and proactively publish documents and statistics.
  3. Urges the Council to engage in negotiations to revise Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, extending its scope to all EU institutions, bodies, and agencies.
  4. Endorses the Ombudsman's special report finding that systemic delays in access to documents amount to maladministration; calls on the Commission to correct this as a priority.
  5. Calls on the Council to allow full public access to the legal opinion on Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages, as recommended by the Ombudsman.
  6. Stresses that work-related text and instant messages are 'documents' under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001; regrets Commission failures to grant access to such documents.
  7. Supports the Ombudsman's efforts to ensure respect for human rights in migration-related actions, including the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding.
  8. Supports the Ombudsman's inquiries following Qatargate; stresses the need for proper monitoring and enforcement of ethics rules in Parliament.
  9. Calls on EPSO to improve recruitment procedures, ensuring technical requirements do not disadvantage candidates and offering test centre options.
  10. Regrets that all Member States fail to fully transpose the European Accessibility Act; calls on the Ombudsman to raise this violation.
  11. Welcomes the Ombudsman's inquiry into child allowance for children with disabilities and the Commission's initiative to revise rules for individual assessment.
  12. Encourages cooperation with national ombudsmen through the European Network of Ombudsmen and with candidate countries to align with EU standards.

Who is affected

  • The European Commission, which must improve its handling of public access requests and transparency.
  • The Council of the European Union, urged to allow access to a legal opinion and engage in regulation revision.
  • The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), called on to improve recruitment procedures.
  • Persons with disabilities, whose rights are affected by Member States' failure to transpose the European Accessibility Act.
  • EU candidate countries, whose ombudsmen are to be strengthened in cooperation with the European Ombudsman.

Figures and deadlines

  • In 2023, the Ombudsman opened 398 inquiries and closed 372.
  • The Commission received 250 inquiries (62.81%) in 2023.
  • In 2023, maladministration was found in 27 (7.3%) closed inquiries.
  • The Commission misses deadlines for confirmatory requests in 85% of cases.
  • The acceptance rate for Ombudsman proposals in 2023 was 81%.

Legal basis: Article 10(3) of the Treaty on European Union; Articles 15, 24(3), 228 and 298(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union