EU Parliament under fire for ‘lack of transparency’

European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros insisted that the EU institutions become more transparent after demands to strenghten his access to confidential documents were delayed by the two main political groups in the European Parliament.

Presenting the findings of his 2007 annual report yesterday (15 April), Diamandouros expressed “concern” at the “growing number of critical remarks” he had to make to the European institutions last year. A record number of inquiries (28%) concerned “lack of transparency in the EU institutions, including the refusal of information or documents,” the report revealed.

One particular example of this problem was highlighted by Diamandouros. Last year, the Ombudsman’s office received a complaint from a Maltese journalist whose request for details of certain MEPs’ allowances had been rejected by the Parliament on the grounds of data protection.

The affair led to calls for the improvement of the Ombudsman’s access to confidential documents, including those relating to MEPs expenses. But a formal request to do that was delayed “following political manoeuvrings” from the centre-right EPP and the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, said Anneli Jäätteenmäki, a liberal MEP from Finland who drafted a report on strengthening the Ombudsman’s status.

“If the two largest political groups oppose enhanced transparency arrangements it must be because they have something to hide,” said Jäätteenmäki, adding the Ombudsman’s annual report “demonstrates once again […] how important it is to strengthen his statute in order that he enjoys a greater degree of independence in the pursuit of his internal enquiries involving the European institutions”.

In total, there were 3,211 compaints from citizens, companies, NGOs and other associations received by the Ombudsman in 2007, Diamandouros said. Other types of alleged maladministration included late payments for EU projects, unfairness, abuse of power and unsatisfactory procedures. The Ombudsman highlighted the fact that his office “closed a record number of inquiries in 2007 (348 inquiries), representing a 40% increase compared to 2006”. 

64% of the inquiries dealt with in 2007 concerned the European Commission, though Diamandouros stressed that “this does not reflect that the Commission has a bad administration”. Rather, as the Commission is the main EU institution to make decisions which have a direct impact on citizens, “it is normal that it should be the principal object of citizens’ complaints,” he said. 

A key role of the Ombudsman is to “increase the transparency of the institutions,” said Diamandouros, though he was quick to emphasise that he had to be very careful to respect the relationship between transparency and privacy. “Absolute transparency leaves no privacy, while absolute privacy leaves no transparency,” he said. 

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