The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, welcomed the progress made so far during her inquiry but has asked the European Commission further to improve the transparency of its 800 plus expert groups by publishing comprehensive minutes of their meetings.

The Ombudsman's strategic inquiry concluded that the Commission should publish meeting agendas and background documents in advance, while minutes should normally include the positions expressed by group members and be published in a timely manner. This will enable citizens to see more clearly how expert advice feeds into EU policy-making. An expert group's deliberations may be kept confidential but only if objectively justified.

Emily O'Reilly stated: "The European Commissio