The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has opened an inquiry into whether the Council of the EU allows sufficient public scrutiny of the evolving discussions on draft EU laws.

The Ombudsman has put 14 questions to the Council on how legislative documents arising from meetings of Member State Ambassadors and deputy Ambassadors, plus the over 150 committees and working parties of national civil servants are handled in accordance with EU transparency standards.

The questions include when and how the positions of individual Member States on draft laws are recorded and how the Council has dealt with a 2013 European Court of Justice ruling on the Council’s access to documents policy.

“The Council is a co-legislator with the European Parliament, working to improve the lives of over 500 million Europeans. The aim of this inquiry is to shed light on how draft EU laws evolve as they progress through the various meetings of national civil servants