EU: The EU’s Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly; belangrijke initiatieven

Bron 1: www.aecr.eu/eu-ombudsman-criticises-secrecy-surrounding-powerful-eu-policy-committees/ .
31 jan. 2015

Secrecy surrounding EU expert groups must end

The EU’s Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has this week criticised the secrecy that still surrounds the powerful experts groups called upon to help the European Commission draft EU legislation.

In a statement issued Friday, she demanded greater transparency from the secretive European Commission expert groups and criticised the EU for not opening them up to greater public scrutiny.

She stated:

“There is room for improvement if we want to be sure that the public can trust and scrutinise the work of these important groups,”

Expert Groups are created on an ad hoc basis to help in the preparation of the EU’s legislative proposals and policy initiatives, the preparation of its delegated acts and the implementation of existing EU legislation, programmes and policies.

While those responsibilities may seem innocuous to someone unfamiliar with EU policy-making, the expert groups are regarded as highly influential in shaping EU legislation in its early stages. Companies spend millions of euros lobbying Brussels’ institutions and having direct access to an expert group is seen as one of the best ways of shaping legislation. Better still is the possibility that companies can, controversially, have one of their representatives appointed to the expert groups.

Such obvious conflicts of interest have not gone unnoticed. Expert groups have been a controversial aspect of EU law-making since the Commission first gained the powers to propose legislation.

In a 2014 report, Pro-transparency group Corporate Europe Observatory revealed big companies had scientists issuing opinions in expert groups on toxic chemicals they themselves manufactured. The problem was also highlighted in an expert group on tax where some of the ‘independent’ panelists were working for accountancy firms Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PwC.

Bron 2: www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/press/release.faces/en/58870/html.bookmark .
30 jan. 2015

Ombudsman: How to make the Commission's expert groups more balanced and transparent

The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has made proposals to the European Commission on how to make its expert groups more balanced and transparent. The Commission oversees hundreds of such advisory groups which play a crucial role in the development of EU legislation and policy. The Ombudsman calls on the Commission to establish a legally binding framework for all expert groups, including measures to reduce potential conflict of interest situations and to publish more information about the work of the groups a definition of what balanced representation in different groups should look like. She also recommends . The Commission should reply to her proposals by 30 April 2015.

Bron 3: europa.eu/rapid/press-release_EO-14-12_en.htm .
mei 2914

European Ombudsman launches public consultation concerning the composition of European Commission expert groups

The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has opened an investigation on her own initiative into the composition and transparency of the Commission's expert groups. As a first step, she is asking interested persons and organisations for feedback on how balanced the representation of relevant areas of expertise and interest is in different groups, how transparent the groups are and how well the application procedures work.

Emily O'Reilly explained: ''The Commission relies heavily on the advice of hundreds of expert groups to draw up legislation and policy, covering areas from tax and banking services, to road safety and pharmaceuticals. It is of utmost importance for these groups to be balanced and to work as transparently as possible so that the public can trust and scrutinise their work.''

Bovenstaande is direct van toepassing op de recente EESC discussies, zie:
Berichten%20Internationaal/9007/redir .
waarin Sir Richard Adams de belangen van de Telecomindustrie, tevens zijn eigen belang, verdedigde om de relatie tussen EMV en gezondheid, ten koste van de gezondheid van de burgers, volledig te verwijderen uit het EESC opinion paper.



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