Close Menu
    Latest Category
    • Finance
    • Tech
    • EU Law
    • Energy
    • fx
    • About
    • Contact
    EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politicsEUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics
    Login
    • EU News
    • Focus
    • Guides
    • Press
    • Jobs
    • Events
    • Directory
    EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politicsEUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics
    Home

    ‘Blame Brussels’ culture must end: European Ombudsman

    npsBy nps18 January 2019Updated:25 June 2024 No Comments3 Mins Read
    — Filed under: EU EU News European Council Headline2
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
    'Blame Brussels' culture must end: European Ombudsman

    Emily O’Reilly – Photo EC

    (BRUSSELS) – Europe’s Ombudsman called Thursday for an end to the culture of EU states being able to blame ‘Brussels’ because of a lack of transparency and accountability of national governments’ legislative work.

    European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly welcomed the European Parliament’s strong vote of support for her report on recommendations to improve the transparency and accountability of EU national governments’ legislative work in Brussels.

    “The lack of legislative transparency in the Council has allowed the ‘blame Brussels’ culture to endure for far too long,” she said: “I hope today’s vote will help convince national governments – in this most important EU election year – to agree to make EU law-making more open, so the public can see who is really taking the decisions.”

    She said it would require “a culture change in the Council, away from old-style diplomacy where much is kept hidden, to a more open and democratic way of working. Taking no action would further damage EU democracy, as this crucial part of the EU legislative process is not open to citizens.”

    “It would be unthinkable at national level for Ministers not to tell citizens their positions on national legislation, however this is essentially what happens when the same Ministers meet to decide on EU legislation,” said the Ombudsman.

    In their report, voted and approved by a wide margin, MEPs endorsed the Ombudsman’s recommendations, which would help Europeans more easily follow EU law-making and highlight the central role national governments have in deciding EU legislation.

    Among her recommendations are that EU Member State positions are recorded in meetings of national ambassadors which decide on EU legislation and that only Council documents justifiably restricted are given the ‘LIMITE’ marking.

    The Ombudsman’s investigation into the transparency of the Council’s legislative work was opened in 2017. Following an analysis of the practices of the Council by inspecting internal Council documents, and taking into account the results of a public consultation, the Ombudsman in 2018 made three Recommendations and six proposals for improving democratic oversight of the process.

    As the Council did not reply within the stated deadline, and given the importance of the issue, the Ombudsman decided to ask the European Parliament for support in a Special Report.

    There have been only 19 Special Reports from the Ombudsman to Parliament since 1995. Four previous reports have concerned the Council, including one about the importance of the Council legislating in public issued before the Lisbon Treaty.

    Special Report of the European Ombudsman in strategic inquiry OI/2/2017/TE on the transparency of the Council legislative process

    European Ombudsman

    Add A Comment

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    nps
    • Website

    Related Content

    EU approves EUR 300m for common defence procurement projects

    EU proposes e-declaration for the posting of workers

    EU calls on Apple to end geo-blocking on media services

    EUR/USD touches one year low as Trump takes control of Congress – Euro currency news daily

    EU artificial intelligence factories set for 2025

    Council agrees reform of EU VAT rules for the digital age

    LATEST EU NEWS

    EU approves EUR 300m for common defence procurement projects

    14 November 2024

    EU proposes e-declaration for the posting of workers

    14 November 2024

    EU calls on Apple to end geo-blocking on media services

    14 November 2024

    EUR/USD touches one year low as Trump takes control of Congress – Euro currency news daily

    14 November 2024

    EU artificial intelligence factories set for 2025

    13 November 2024
    BRIEFING

    Agenda

    This week, COP29 begins in Azerbaijan; finance ministers discuss the EU's annual budget for 2025; and MEPs hold a plenary session on EU-US relations, EU summits, deforestation and COP 29...

    EUbusiness Week

    This week competitiveness and environment ministers will hold informal meetings…

    Eurozone Economic Calendar

    Key economic calendar events for the week 11 to 16 November 2024

    The Week's Top Stories

    This week competitiveness and environment ministers will hold informal meetings…

    Advertisement

    Subscribe to EUbusiness Week

    Get the latest EU news

    Latest Posts

    EU approves EUR 300m for common defence procurement projects

    14 November 2024

    EU proposes e-declaration for the posting of workers

    14 November 2024

    EU calls on Apple to end geo-blocking on media services

    14 November 2024

    EUR/USD touches one year low as Trump takes control of Congress – Euro currency news daily

    14 November 2024

    CONTACT INFO

    • EUbusiness Ltd 117 High Street, Chesham Buckinghamshire, HP5 1DE United Kingdom
    • +44(0)20 8058 8232
    • service@eubusiness.com

    INFORMATION

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Info

    Services

    • Privacy Policy
    • Tems
    • EU News

    SOCIAL MEDIA

    Facebook
    eubusiness.com © EUbusiness Ltd 2025
    Design and developed by : Dotsquares

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Sign In or Register

    Welcome Back!

    Login below or Register Now.

    Lost password?

    Register Now!

    Already registered? Login.

    A password will be e-mailed to you.

    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok