In this issue of The Global Conversation, Isabel Marques da Silva receives Emily O’Reilly, European Ombudsman.
Last week, Emily O’Reilly opened a new investigation into the European Commission’s decision to relax certain rules relating to the common agricultural policy. The European mediator asked that a meeting be held.
“We will examine the documents related to this file and question the officials concerned”says Emily O’Reilly. “This is about the common agricultural policy and the changes that have been made to make farmers’ obligations a little less onerous and restrictive in terms of environmental protection. We remember the large-scale demonstrations which took place place And it was following these demonstrations that these changes were adopted.
Organizations committed to environmental protection are therefore concerned about this situation because – according to the complaint we received – the only parties to have been consulted were agricultural organizations. We are therefore trying to find out what happened, how they made these changes, who was consulted and what was taken into consideration. And once we get those answers, we’ll make a decision whether they’ve done the right thing, or we’ll make recommendations for how they should proceed in the future, or we’ll give them guidelines for properly manage these issues which are a major concern for citizens.
“If there is a common denominator in most of our files, it is indeed influence. Brussels is a major lobbying center, the second most important in the world after Washington. Citizens therefore have the right to know how legislation is developed and who directs it Part of our work, when we receive complaints or when we open investigations on our own initiative, is to ensure that the Commission, for example, or the. other institutions, listen to all points of view and do not make decisions that are inappropriate or too influenced by one of the parties to the debate.
“Many people talk about the Commission as a huge administration, when in fact it is quite small compared to those of the Member States.
So, obviously, it doesn’t have all the necessary expertise in-house, when it develops or recommends regulations. Thus, they call on specialists in the sectors in which they work. One of the surveys we conducted a few years ago aimed to study the balance between these expert groups.
If you are a big company, by definition you have a lot of resources and you can pay a lot of people to be your eyes and ears in Brussels and know what is going on. If you are an NGO, with a more modest budget, you will not have the same capacity to deploy staff to find out what is going on. The Commission therefore has an obligation to ensure that NGOs, civil society and other actors make their voices heard equally.”
“There is undoubtedly greater awareness within the Commission, both because of the work we have carried out, that of the media, and civil society. But problems can still arise, and we are examining these questions on a case-by-case basis.
But overall, mentalities have evolved, there is greater acceptance of the need for better balance when decisions have to be made on matters of general interest. Every voice must be heard.”
The demand for transparency is becoming more and more pressing, and also concerns conflicts of interest which have sometimes tarnished the image of institutions.
Ursula von der Leyen, who was re-elected as head of the European Commission, presented the 26 candidates who will sit on the executive. The European Parliament will look in particular at their declarations of financial interest.
“Parliament has certain investigative powers, but not the same prerogatives, for example, as those of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, or OLAF, the European anti-fraud office”, notes Emily O’Reilly. “But it is more important to know whether this Parliament will really assume its role as an accountability mechanism towards the Commission, and ensure that the Commission is accountable. Over time, some parliaments are asserting themselves in this sense , others less so. It is surely too early to say to what extent this parliament will be able to hold the Commission to account.”
