Tuesday

28th Mar 2023

EU ombudsman asks Tusk for more transparency

  • European Ombudsman O'Reilly has written to Council President Tusk, demanding an answer by March next year (Photo: European Ombudsman)

The EU ombudsman has asked European Council president Donald Tusk to publish information about his meetings with lobbyists.

That would provide citizens with "a more complete picture of who is trying to influence EU decision-making, when and how," Emily O'Reilly said on Monday (18 December).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

In a letter to the council chief, she suggested that Tusk should only meet with representatives who are recorded in the EU transparency register, a database of organisations – companies, associations, and NGOs - attempting to influence the EU legislative process.

The register is intended to increase public trust in the EU decision-making process, and is currently in use by the European Commission and European Parliament, while the council has had observer status since 2014.

A revision of the register is expected for early 2018, after political representatives from the parliament, council and commission agreed on 12 December to begin negotiations.

As a result of that future revision process, the council is expected to join the register, and lobbyists meetings with decision-makers from the three institutions would become conditional on prior registration.

The revision was proposed by the commission in September 2016, as part of a general effort to implement institutions' commitment to transparency.

Within the commission, commissioners and their cabinets are already required to meet only registered interest representatives, and the fact of those meetings are made public.

As for the parliament, the revised European parliament rules of procedure adopted in January 2017 state that "members should adopt the systematic practice of only meeting interest representatives that have registered".

In her letter to Tusk, O'Reilly also asked him whether he could also make public the progress reports on the Leaders' Agenda - the working programme of EU heads of state and government.

"Publishing the progress reports on these discussions would allow citizens to follow European politics in real time and bring greater understanding about the role national leaders play in shaping decisions on vital issues," O'Reilly argued.

The ombudsman's letter follows similar initiatives aimed at opening up the EU decision making process to the public, such as when, in July 2016, O'Reilly called on the three institutions to publish key documents related to the trilogues - the informal negotiations on draft EU laws.

O'Reilly asked for a reply from Tusk by 1 March 2018.

Opinion

Lobbying transparency enhances MEPs' freedom

At a time when citizens expect an unprecedented level of accountability from their elected representatives, senior MEPs use their ‘free mandate’ to justify opposing new lobbying transparency rules.

MPs demand Council become more transparent

Three Dutch MPs, on behalf of 26 national parliamentary chambers across the EU, are demanding more transparency. 'The Eurogroup is the most opaque of them all,' complained Dutch MP Omtzigt.

Opinion

Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity

From the perspective of international relations, the EU is a rare bird indeed. Theoretically speaking it cannot even exist. The charter of the United Nations, which underlies the current system of global governance, distinguishes between states and organisations of states.

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Latest News

  1. Dear EU, the science is clear: burning wood for energy is bad
  2. Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity
  3. Finnish elections and Hungary's Nato vote in focus This WEEK
  4. EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict
  5. Okay, alright, AI might be useful after all
  6. Von der Leyen pledges to help return Ukrainian children
  7. EU leaders agree 1m artillery shells for Ukraine
  8. Polish abortion rights activist vows to appeal case

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  6. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us