Based on her inquiries into the European Commission’s Omnibus I proposal to simplify the CSRD and CSDDD and legislative proposals on people smuggling and agriculture, European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho has found “a number of procedural shortcomings” which taken together amount to “maladministration”.
She found that the Commission failed to “sufficiently justify the ‘urgency’ of the legislative proposals towards the public and to document its derogations from the applicable Better Regulation rules”.
“The Ombudsman also found that the Commission has not put in place a procedure that would ensure, as required by the Treaties and case law, a transparent, evidence-based and inclusive preparation of ‘urgent’ legislative proposals. The Ombudsman further found that, by not keeping proper records of mandatory consistency checks of its proposals with the EU’s climate goals, the Commission failed to act in an accountable manner,” the opinion reads.
Anjinho recommends that the EU body define urgent situations that justify divergences from its Better Regulations rules and establish a procedure to ensure urgent legislative proposals comply with the principles of a “transparent, evidence-based and inclusive law-making process”.
In particular, she suggests that the Commission clarify its stakeholder consultation rules for urgent proposals and ensure that it publishes evidence supporting its proposals in good time to enable a public debate before the legislation is adopted.