Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

EU watchdog vows to keep up pressure, if reappointed

  • Emily O'Reilly with Jose Manuel Barroso. The Ombudsman criticised EU staff who sold 'insider information' (Photo: European Parliament)

Emily O'Reilly, the European Ombudsman, has promised to keep up pressure on EU institutions if reappointed for another five years.

"Well, what's the point of me, if I'm not going to do that?", she told EUobserver shortly after announcing her candidacy last week.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

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

... or subscribe as a group

"I'm not making a martyr or a saint out of myself, but I see the European Ombudsman as a vital role. It's in the [EU] treaties and it's in the Charter of Fundamental Rights - you're a watchdog on the institutions", she said.

The 62-year old Irish woman was involved in several high-profile EU controversies in the past five years.

She reprimanded the European Commission for its shifty promotion of top civil servant Martin Selmayr.

She criticised its ethics when former EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso went to lobby for a US investment bank.

And she criticised European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi for his dealings with secretive financial clubs.

Some of her work attracted unprecedented international media attention.

The number of Ombudsman inquiries into EU malpractice also grew on her watch to hit record levels last year.

"I got involved with some heavy hitters, but I hope people would see the work I did was fair and non-partisan," O'Reilly said.

"We're just doing our job, but some of the cases take on a life of their own [in the media]", she added.

Some 98 percent of the inquiries arose from public tip-offs or complaints, but O'Reilly also used special reports and sent letters to needle people like Draghi or Jeroen Dijselbloem, the former head of the eurozone ministers' club, the Eurogroup, on greater transparency.

If it saw "systemic problems" which the general public was not aware of, the Ombudsman ought to trigger "own initiative" reports, she told EUobserver.

"The right has always been there [in the EU treaty] and it was used by my predecessors", she said.

The European Ombudsman is elected by a secret ballot of MEPs after hearings in the petitions committee in December.

Candidates need 40 MEPs from at least two EU states to back them in order to run and it remains unclear who plans to challenge O'Reilly at this stage.

High-value

But transparency in the EU Council, as well as in new EU bodies which arose after the financial crisis, such as the Single Supervisory Mechanism in Frankfurt, would remain a "high-value issue" if she was reappointed, she told this website.

So-called 'revolving doors', in which former EU officials, such as Barroso, walk out of EU posts into corporate jobs, also remained a matter of concern, she added.

"People [former officials] have a right to work, but we have to make sure public interest isn't harmed by the selling of insider information, which, let's face it, is very often what happens," she said.

Media pressure was sometimes effective in stimulating change, O'Reilly added.

The recent series of EU dramas - the financial crisis, the migration crisis, and Brexit - had created "greater public interest" in what was going in Brussels, she said.

Politico Europe's big launch in 2015 also "sexed up" Brussels journalism by making it "more dramatic, more personality-based", she added.

Soft power

The Ombudsman was not a judge whose verdicts had to be followed, but an "influencer" with "soft power", she noted.

"It's like being the conductor of an orchestra - sometimes you have to go with the big guns, sometimes the piccolo, and sometimes silence, sometimes we say nothing to media," she said.

"I'm a practical woman, who likes to see results," O'Reilly said.

Belgium, whose laws govern media in the EU capital, recently tabled a bill that could criminalise publication of leaked papers in what NGOs have called a threat to investigative journalists.

And O'Reilly stood up for media freedom in the EU bubble.

"Without commenting on the draft Belgian law in particular, I do however note Article 11.2 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which says that the freedom of the media shall be respected. This is vital for the media to carry out its functions in the public interest," she said.

Exclusive

EU parliament rejects ombudsman over expenses

The European Parliament questions whether the ombudsman had the right to criticise the institution's "margin of discretion" in deciding on publication of confidential papers about the controversial monthly €4,513 expenses lump sum for MEPs.

Exclusive

Ombudsman backs EUobserver on MEP expenses

The European Parliament should have granted access to documents on a decision about how transparent MEPs should be in future with their office expenses, says EU Ombudsman.

Exclusive

EIB blames Ombudsman for not helping redact VW report

Volkswagen Group duped the European Investment Bank, from which it borrowed €400m, by not disclosing it was cheating on emissions tests. Requests by EUobserver to see the anti-fraud report however have been consistently rejected.

Opinion

Defending the defenders: ombudsmen need support

Ombudsmen are often coming under attack or facing different kinds of challenges. These can include threats, legal action, reprisals, budget cuts or a limitation of their mandate.

Opinion

How the EU can raise its game in the Middle East

Could the EU repair its reputation and credibility by taking action on Gaza? EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have worked hard to repair the damage, but have faced political headwinds due to internal divisions.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us