News - Date Tuesday | 01 July 2025 Case OI/2/2023/MIK - Opened on Thursday | 08 June 2023 - Recommendation on Tuesday | 01 July 2025 - Decision on Friday | 27 June 2025 - Institution concerned European Commission ( Maladministration found ) - Country France

• Inquiry opened

  08/05/2023

• Inquiry ongoing

  08/06/2023

• Preliminary outcome

  17/10/2024

• Inquiry outcome

  27/06/2025

The European Ombudsman has closed an inquiry into how the European Commission decides on applications by companies for authorisations of particularly dangerous chemicals and concluded that it has failed to address the issue of lengthy delays in the process.

The Commission takes on average 14.5 months to prepare draft decisions although the deadline for doing so is three months. Last year the Ombudsman found maladministration and asked the Commission to take certain steps to improve the situation.

However, in its response, the Commission did not address the Ombudsman’s recommendation to review its lengthy internal procedures, nor did it accept the Ombudsman’s recommendation that applications containing insufficient information be promptly dismissed so that those companies can no longer use the dangerous substances in the EU.

Overall, the Commission did not present a comprehensive plan for addressing the delays.

The Ombudsman reiterates that the Commission needs to take further steps to fully implement the goals of the REACH regulation and recent case law to avoid the lengthy delays in the risk management of chemical substances.

REACH Regulation

Under the EU Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), companies wishing to use chemical substances that have been deemed as ‘of very high concern’ and included in the list of substances subject to prior authorisation must apply for authorisation from the Commission.

The Commission then presents a draft decision to the REACH Committee, composed of Member State representatives, who vote on authorisation.

While the authorisation process is ongoing, the companies concerned can continue using the substances in the EU - substances that may be carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic for reproduction, or have endocrine disrupting properties.

On 2 July 2025, representatives of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (the Ombudsman) hosted three experts in the field of juvenile law from France, who are in Slovenia on a study visit on legislation in the field of juvenile delinquency and victims of crime. The French guests are visiting Slovenia to gain insight into the judicial system for the treatment and protection of children in Slovenia.

The Deputy Ombudsman, Dr Jože Ruparčič, who is responsible for children's rights at the Ombudsman, began by briefly outlining the main topics that the Ombudsman deals with in the field of rights of children and highlighted the good international cooperation, including in the network of children's ombudsmen ENOC. He paid particular attention to peer violence. "Such violence is a symptom of the society we live in. It affects the whole of society and it is an resposibility of adults, who must set an example for children and send a clear message to society that violence is unacceptable," he stressed. He also spoke about children's mental health, stressing in particular the attitude of adults towards children. He considered that the Ombudsman's task is, among other things, to promote non-violent communication in order to strengthen respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. He also presented the Child advocacy, which had placed 50 child advocates in 2024 alone, and stressed the importance of respecting Articles 12 and 13 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provide for the right to freedom of expression.

Deputy Ombudsman Ivan Šelih, also Head of the National Preventive Mechanism (DPM), presented the institution of the Ombudsman and its possibilities for action, and spoke in more detail about the work of the NPM, which, in cooperation with NGOs, exercises powers under the Optional Protocol against Torture and Other Cruel Treatment, ratified in 2006. He presented the system of visits and monitoring of institutions where persons are deprived of their liberty. "The DPM is dedicated to strengthening the protection of these persons from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In 2024 alone, it carried out 72 visits to places of deprivation of liberty, most of them unannounced," Šelih pointed out. The DPM notes that, in principle, the living conditions and treatment of persons deprived of their liberty have improved, and there is good cooperation with NGOs and experts in the implementation of the mandate.

The DPM members presented to the guests from France the findings and some recommendations of the Slovenian DPM from their visits to institutions where children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems, mental health problems or who have already encountered the penal system are placed. They were also informed about the situation in five centres for training, work and care in Slovenia, which house children and adolescents with mental and physical disabilities.

Some examples of good practice where presented, such as the opening of a child and adolescent psychiatry ward in 2019 and a special ward for children with the most severe forms of emotional and behavioural disorders in Dornava in 2021. Examples of good practice include smaller residential units, such as the Draga House in CUDV Draga, where small groups of adolescents with severe forms of emotional and behavioural disorders live in an environment that promotes learning and responsibility.

DPM has made several recommendations for systemic arrangements in the care of children and adolescents, but the key recommendation remains: the institution should not be the first or only answer, but the system should allow for early help in the community. Only by working in a coherent way across different departments will it be possible to ensure that all children are treated safely and appropriately.

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise explained on Aktuaalne Kaamera the conclusions reached in verifying the legality of access to bank accounts through the enforcement register. Interview by Margus Saar.

Chancellor of Justice: 2,000 bank statements viewed without legal basisadise | ERR

Memorandum by the Chancellor of Justice: Recommendations related to the enforcement register

Dentro de la XLIV edición de los Cursos de verano de la UPV/EHU, el Ararteko junto con la Autoridad Vasca de Protección de Datos ha organizado en el palacio Miramar de Donostia/San Sebastián, un curso titulado “Hacia una inteligencia artificial ética: desafíos para los derechos humanos y para la protección de datos”.

En la inauguración del curso la ararteko en funciones Inés Ibáñez de Maeztu ha dicho que “las defensorías del pueblo, los ombudsman, tenemos que asumir un nuevo papel en esta transición digital: ser garantes activos de una tecnología al servicio del interés general. No se trata solo de adoptar un enfoque jurídico clásico, sino de aportar una mirada ética, interdisciplinar y preventiva que complemente la labor normativa y técnica de otras instituciones”.

Este curso busca generar un espacio de encuentro para discutir el impacto y los usos de la IA en áreas de gran relevancia social e institucional, como la educación, la seguridad ciudadana, la salud y la administración pública.

En ese sentido, Ibáñez de Maeztu ha señalado que este curso es una excelente oportunidad para compartir experiencias, contrastar visiones y generar propuestas. “Queremos que sirva -ha subrayado- no solo para analizar los riesgos, sino también para imaginar oportunidades de innovación pública responsable, de formación ciudadana, de participación informada. En definitiva, queremos impulsar una inteligencia artificial que respete los derechos, que mejore los servicios públicos y que no deje a nadie atrás”.

Uno de los objetivos principales es sensibilizar a los asistentes sobre los desafíos éticos y sociales que plantea la IA, así como los posibles sesgos que los algoritmos pueden producir en la igualdad, equidad y privacidad. Además, el evento busca servir como plataforma para intercambiar experiencias y buenas prácticas, abordando temas como la protección de niños, niñas y adolescentes en entornos educativos digitales y las implicaciones de la IA en el ámbito de la gestión pública, como la educación, la salud, la seguridad pública, etc., con especial énfasis en el respeto a los derechos fundamentales.

Otro propósito clave es promover la colaboración entre distintos sectores, facilitando el diálogo entre personas expertas en tecnología, responsables de gestión y políticas públicas, instituciones de control de derechos etc., con el fin de establecer enfoques responsables y éticos en el desarrollo y aplicación de la IA. La intención es que este encuentro permita identificar oportunidades de innovación, al mismo tiempo que se construyen estrategias para minimizar riesgos y proteger así el bienestar, la seguridad y la privacidad de la ciudadanía.

MÁS INFORMACIÓN

Donostia/San Sebastián, 3 de julio de 2025

Tomás Quintana ha mantenido un encuentro instituconal con el Defensor del Pueblo, Ángel Gabilondo.

La reunión se enmarca en las relaciones habituales de cooperación y colaboración que mantienen los diferentes defensores y con el Defensor del Pueblo.