European Ombudsman promotes awareness of OGP

The European Ombudsman investigates complaints against the institutions of the European Union. Many of these complaints allege lack of transparency, with citizens wanting to know how and why particular decisions were taken by the Union administration. As well as investigating complaints, the Ombudsman seeks to promote good practice in relation to access to documents and proactive disclosure of information. By way of example, the Ombudsman recently concluded an inquiry in relation to transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, setting out a series of recommendations to the European Commission.

The Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, addressed the OGP meeting held in Dublin in May 2014. More recently, the Ombudsman wrote to the European Central Bank and European Investment Bank, as well as the European Chemicals Agency, European Food Safety Authority and European Aviation Safety Agency, to draw their attention to the OGP and how useful it could be to their work. The Ombudsman’s Office also spoke, on 9 October, to forty EU Agencies and highlighted the relevanceAccording to the OGP Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should include a clear open government lens. Specifically, they should advance at least one of the OGP values: transparency, citizen partic... of OGP to them. There was a genuine interest to learn more.

Even though the EU as such has not asked to join the OGP, 20 of the 28 EU Member States do now participate. And more and more EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies are learning about the OGP and how useful it could be to them. The European Ombudsman will continue to promote awareness and encourage learning from the best practices shared through the OGP in the areas of transparency, citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More and accountability.

Photo source: Flickr; Author: Yanni Koutsomitis