European Ombudsman Assesses Commission’s Lack of Transparency as a Threat to the EU

The European Ombudsman has warned of “zones without accountability” within EU institutions, emphasizing that growing global crises cannot become an excuse for secrecy.

EU Ombudsman Teresa Anžinjo told the Brussels portal Politico today that the European Commission, faced with threats, is taking on more and more powers and responsibilities, but is also becoming “increasingly discreet” when addressing the public, which is fueling a “huge wave” of complaints submitted to her office.

“Urgency is not an all-encompassing justification, especially when important safeguards are bypassed, which exist precisely to guarantee consistency and predictability,” Anžinjo said, adding that there cannot be zones without accountability.

Anžinjo assessed that shortcomings in the EU’s rules on access to documents, which allow citizens to request official acts and files, are a sign of “structural dysfunction” in the executive branch and are unsuitable “for the 21st century.”

The Ombudsman said that more than a third of the complaints she receives relate to transparency.

She also criticized officials who abuse legal exceptions to create “escape routes” and said she advocates for changes to regulations so that “refusal” by institutions unwilling to provide documents would be punished.

“I am not advocating a return to the procedural orthodoxy from before the crisis. It is important to adapt, and we understand that. But we must adapt without losing ourselves,” Anžinjo told Politico.

Anžinjo took office a year and a half ago from Emily O’Reilly, a sharp critic of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and, as she called them, the “powerful advisers” who run the president’s cabinet.

Von der Leyen has been criticized from multiple sides, from the European Parliament to civil society, for the centralization of power and avoidance of oversight.

Anžinjo did not mention von der Leyen but called the “opacity” of the EU executive a threat to the Union itself.

“We must be faithful to the treaties and respect the principles and values. That guarantees the survival of the project and the institutions,” said the EU Ombudsman.