Has the EU really become more transparent? Sort of, EU ombudswoman says

As EU ombudswoman since 2013, Emily O’Reilly oversees an independent body tasked with holding EU institutions accountable. She investigates cases of maladministration, either on her own initiative or in response to complaints from EU citizens.

O’Reilly has also urged the European Commission to combat secrecy, which she argues undermines public trust. In 2022, her office criticised Ursula von der Leyen’s undisclosed text messages with Pfizer’s CEO during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More recently, she called for the publication of a secret protocol sent to Mercosur, pressed for human rights protections in the EU-Tunisia migration deal, and demanded clarity from Frontex on its role in Mediterranean search and rescue operations.

In her latest action, O’Reilly opened an inquiry into the Commission’s decision to relax environmental standards in the Common Agricultural Policy following protests by European farmers.