EO express 04/2024
The EO express brings you an overview of the European Ombudsman's recent activities, including inquiry openings, key findings, speeches and events.
ELECTION OF THE OMBUDSMAN
Teresa Anjinho elected as new European Ombudsman
The European Parliament elected Teresa Anjinho as European Ombudsman on 17 December. Ms Anjinho is a member of the supervisory committee of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and a former Deputy Ombudsman of Portugal. She was also previously a Secretary of State for Justice and a Member of Parliament in Portugal.?Ms Anjinho will take office on 27 February 2025.
PUBLICATIONS
The European Ombudsman Investigated: From Old Battles to New Challenges
A new book, to be published on 20 February 2025, looks at the evolution of the European Ombudsman over its first three decades. Featuring contributions from academia, EU institutions, civil society, and the Ombudsman’s own Office, it examines developments and future opportunities in key areas of the Ombudsman’s work such as access to documents, conflicts of interests, revolving doors, regulatory agency oversight, and fundamental rights. The digital version of the book will be available open access.
RECENT INQUIRY DEVELOPMENTS
Suggestions to help ensure accountability in Commission’s use of AI
The Ombudsman has made a series of suggestions to help the European Commission ensure the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its decision-making remains accountable. For example, she proposed that civil servants responsible for human oversight of AI receive adequate training on the risks and errors produced by AI systems and on how to critically examine and verify AI-produced results. The Ombudsman also encouraged the Commission to reflect on what information it will make publicly available around future AI projects and to consider carrying out public consultations on the possible adoption of new powerful AI tools.
Ombudsman asks Council and Commission to improve compliance with EU case law on access to legislative documents
The Ombudsman has asked the Council of the European Union and the European Commission to improve compliance with EU case law on public access to legislative documents. She asked both institutions to promptly disclose legislative documents, even if doing so would give rise to external pressure as this is a normal part of the democratic law-making process. In addition, she asked the institutions to only refuse access in truly exceptional circumstances and to inform third parties making submissions during the law-making process that their submissions may be disclosed.
Ombudsman welcomes EUAA decision to grant greater access to documents concerning Greek migration management facilities
The Ombudsman welcomed the European Union Agency for Asylum’s (EUAA) acceptance of her proposal to grant greater public access to documents related to reception conditions in Greek migration management facilities. She also commended the EUAA's identification of documents for this access request, in particular its email exchanges, noting that ?the decisive element of a document is not its medium, nor its registration, but rather its content.
Commission failure to identify documents related to meeting between its President and President of Tunisia is maladministration, says Ombudsman
The Ombudsman found maladministration in how the European Commission handled an access to documents request concerning the preparation of a meeting between its President, the Italian and Dutch Prime Ministers, and the President of Tunisia. She criticised the Commission for failing to identify any documents covering exchanges with Member States as well as internal exchanges in the lead up to the meeting. The Ombudsman further criticised the lack of urgency in handling the request, noting that it took the Commission nearly 12 months to review its initial access decision.
Ombudsman makes suggestions to help Commission ensure European Defence Fund experts do not have conflicts of interest
In an own-initiative inquiry into how the European Commission ensures experts evaluating European Defence Fund (EDF) proposals do not have conflicts of interest, the Ombudsman found that the Commission largely relies on the information submitted by candidates. The Ombudsman encouraged it to proactively look for additional information that may indicate conflicts of interests. She also found that there is no systematic review of the financial interests of experts and suggested the Commission ask candidate experts to complete a detailed declaration of interests.
Commission did not properly assess alleged conflict of interest of its Agriculture Commissioner, Ombudsman finds
Following an inquiry, the Ombudsman found that the European Commission did not properly assess an alleged conflict of interest of its Agriculture Commissioner in its handling of an infringement complaint. She suggested the Commission review its decision making on the infringement complaint under the supervision of another commissioner and make procedural improvements to prevent a similar situation in the future.
Ombudsman welcomes Commission measures to deal with delays in handling of infringement complaints
The Ombudsman welcomed measures taken by the Commission to deal with delays in its handling of complaints alleging infringements of EU law and to improve how it communicates with individual complainants and the public. Noting that the handling of infringement complaints is a matter of significant public importance, the Ombudsman encouraged the Commission to continue to make improvements in this area.
SPEECHES
Ombudsman addresses access to documents panel organised by International Association of European Journalists
During a panel organised by the International Association of European Journalists in Belgium, the Ombudsman spoke about the important role public access to documents plays in ensuring democratic legitimacy in the EU and accountability in the EU institutions. She also highlighted areas for improvement, such as the need for a broad definition of legislative documents that the public is entitled to see and respect for the timeframes for handling access requests.
Speech to European Law graduates at University of Tours: Reflections on the EU the next generation is set to inherit
"I would like to call upon each of you to reflect on what kind of Europe you want—on what you believe Europe should stand for—not just now but throughout your professional lives. Just as new mandates are beginning for the EU major institutions, you too are set to begin the next stage in your lives. The careers many of you choose to pursue and the manner in which you carry out your work will play its own role in determining the future of the continent you are set to inherit."
Writer at Heart & Soul Theatre Company
2 个月CORRUPTION IN IRELAND - THAT PUTS THE UK POSTAL SCANDAL IN THE HA'PPENY PLACE, Some background, my first play JUSTICE toured NI and was in the Belfast and Dublin Theatre Festivals plus a week at the Tron in Glasgow. This was in 1992. However, when I wrote The Judas Goat, about the Belfast Docks Union and Employer Corruption, the diabolical censorship from the Unions, the employers and all and sundry in the Irish establishment set in. This play along with my Belfast Memoir categorizes the mindset, thinking and censorship of the august establishment bodies in Ireland. They all deny this happened and censor the Truth. My play, The Judas Goat shows how the Belfast Dockers were ordered by their Union ITGWU to discharge Asbestos without protection to save the Employers money. See DOC004 on linkedin for proof https://www.amazon.com/stores/Hugh-murphy/author/B0BRBL9CG2?ref=ap_rdramp;store_ref=ap_rdramp;isDramIntegrated=trueamp;sh