Die Europäische Ombudsfrau hat eine weitreichende Untersuchung darüber eingeleitet, wie die Kommission mit Wechseln " von EU-Bediensteten in den privaten Sektor umgeht. Die Untersuchung ist Teil einer verschärften Überprüfung, wie die EU-Verwaltung die Ethikverpflichtungen für „Seitenwechsel“ bei ihren Bediensteten einhält.

Die Ombudsfrau wird 100 Personalakten einsehen, die sich auf Entscheidungen der Kommission über Anträge von Führungskräften der oberen und mittleren Ebene auf Genehmigung entweder einer neuen Beschäftigung oder von unbezahltem Urlaub zur Ausübung einer anderen Tätigkeit beziehen.

Die Akten umfassen insgesamt 14 Generaldirektionen sowie sämtliche Kabinette der Kommissare, den Juristischen Dienst der Kommission, das Generalsekretariat, den internen Think Tank und den Ausschuss für Regulierungskontrolle. Die umfangreiche Einsicht zielt darauf ab, ein umfassendes

La Médiatrice européenne, Emily O'Reilly, a lancé une enquête de grande ampleur sur la manière dont la Commission gère les affaires dites de « pantouflage » parmi son personnel. L'enquête fait partie d'un suivi approfondi qui a pour but de vérifier comment l'administration de l'UE met en œuvre les obligations éthiques qui incombent à son personnel lorsqu’il passe dans le secteur privé.

La Médiatrice va examiner 100 dossiers du personnel concernant les décisions de la Commission relatives à des demandes d’approbation de cadres supérieurs et intermédiaires pour un nouvel emploi ou congé sans solde dans le but d'entreprendre une autre activité.

Les dossiers couvrent au total 14 directions générales en plus de tous les cabinets des commissaires, le service juridique de la Commission, le secrétariat général, le groupe de réflexion interne et le comité d'examen de la réglementation. Ce

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has launched a wide-ranging inquiry into how the Commission handles so-called ‘revolving doors’ cases among its staff. The inquiry is part of a reinforced monitoring of how the EU administration implements the ethics obligations on EU staff who move to the private sector.

The Ombudsman will inspect 100 personnel files related to decisions by the Commission on requests by senior and mid-level managers for approval of either new employment or of unpaid leave in order to undertake another activity.

The files cover a total of 14 Directorate-Generals in addition to all commissioner cabinets, the Commission’s Legal Service, Secretariat-General, internal think tank and the Regulatory Scrutiny Board. The wide scope aims to ensure a broad understanding of how such decisions are taken across a range of Commission departments.

“Robust management of the ‘revolving doors’ issue is important for maintaining trust in the EU institutions. Any perception that the rules are not being properly enforced risks questions being raised about whether the EU administration is acting fully in the public interest.

The potential corrosive effect of unchecked ‘revolving doors’ is, in my view, underestimated - this is why my Office has focused on it for several years.

There should be more awareness in the EU administration of the impression it makes on the public when people with regulatory expertise move to the private sector where their knowledge and networks can have significant commercial and other value. That understanding is not yet there,” said Ms O’Reilly.

The Ombudsman has carried out several inquiries related to revolving doors, including one concerning the European Banking Authority (now closed) and one concerning the European Defence Agency (ongoing). The Ombudsman has also written to the Commission to ask it to ensure compliance with the conditions it drew up when it approved former Commissioner Oettinger’s new role at a communications consultancy, which has a tobacco company as one of its largest EU clients.

Annual Report 2020

Today, the Ombudsman also launches her Annual Report for 2020. As in past years, complaints related to transparency and accountability accounted for the biggest proportion of inquiries (25%).

The Report documents the Ombudsman’s proactive monitoring of how key EU institutions responded in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. The Ombudsman found that the European Centre for Disease Control has insufficient powers to properly carry out its mandate. She also asked the Council’s to improve the transparency of its procedures for decision making during the COVID-19 crisis. In 2021, the Ombudsman opened complaint-based COVID-19 inquiries concerning public access to the vaccine contracts signed by the Commission and details about the Member States taking part in negotiating the vaccine contracts.

“When crisis hits, transparency and accountability are often sacrificed in favour of expediency. It is therefore all the more important to remind public administrations to continue to act in a manner that ensures the greatest public trust,” said Ms O’Reilly.

2020 also saw several important inquiries related to environmental decision making, as well inquiries concerning ethics and concerning fundamental rights - such as an inquiry into the effectiveness of Frontex’s complaints mechanism.

The 2020 annual report is here.

A web story, highlighting the most relevant cases and statistics, is here.

The Guidelines aim at improving co-ordination between the different authorities and services intervening in cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation (health and social services, legal assistance, prosecution service and justice). Their ultimate objective is to ensure the smooth transit of victims between these different systems and to prevent re-victimisation. The Guidelines take a decided child-rights approach, and they have been elaborated in collaboration with all stakeholders involved. They detail each intervening actor's duties and functions, as well as the sequence in which they should intervene and their timing. They also include a set of recommendations.

The Guidelines were presented in a hybrid event with relevant stakeholders on Tuesday, 18 May. You can find more information about them here, or read the full Guidelines in Basque or Spanish.