12/05/2026
Complaints surge as report raises concerns over fast-track law-making, AI governance, and transparency in EU decision-making
The European Ombudsman 2025 Report paints a striking picture of rising public scrutiny over how the EU administration operates. It warns against weakening democratic safeguards in the face of political urgency. Presenting the report to the European Parliament’s PETI Committee last week, Teresa Anjinho revealed that her office handled nearly 3,500 complaints in 2025, a dramatic 54% increase compared to the previous year. The office also opened 492 inquiries, with transparency and accountability issues accounting for the largest share. According to Anjinho, the rise reflects both growing public awareness of citizens’ rights and the increasing role of AI tools in directing people towards the Ombudsman’s office. At the same time, she warned that the surge places significant strain on institutional resources.
Fast-track EU law-making under scrutiny
Among the most politically significant findings in the report are the Ombudsman’s conclusions on the European Commission’s increasing use of urgent legislative procedures. The Ombudsman examined several accelerated legislative files in 2025, including proposals linked to the Omnibus package on corporate sustainability rules, reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy, and measures addressing migrant smuggling. The inquiries identified “several shortcomings” in the way the Commission applied its own Better Regulation rules, which are intended to ensure EU law-making remains transparent, evidence-based, and inclusive. Most notably, the Ombudsman found that the Commission failed to sufficiently justify the urgency of certain proposals and did not adequately document derogations from internal procedures used to bypass public consultations and impact assessments. While recognising that geopolitical instability and multiple crises can require rapid responses, Anjinho stressed that democratic safeguards cannot become optional. “Faster laws still require firm democratic foundations,” she wrote in the report’s foreword.
AI and accountability emerge as major themes
Artificial intelligence also emerged as a major area of concern throughout 2025. The Ombudsman launched several inquiries examining how EU institutions are integrating AI into decision-making processes, including investigations into the transparency of AI standard-setting procedures and the use of AI by external experts evaluating EU funding proposals. The report underlines that the Ombudsman’s objective is not to discourage the use of AI, but to ensure that its deployment within the EU administration remains transparent, ethical, and subject to meaningful human oversight.
Revolving doors, transparency, and integrity standards
The report also highlights ongoing work on ethics and integrity within EU institutions and agencies. In one major own-initiative inquiry, the Ombudsman examined how 15 EU agencies manage “revolving door” cases involving senior officials and board members moving into private sector roles. The inquiry identified uneven safeguards and significant differences in how agencies monitor conflicts of interest and post-employment restrictions. Other inquiries led to improvements in transparency around third-party-funded travel for senior EU officials and stronger conflict-of-interest rules for experts evaluating projects under the European Defence Fund. Transparency and access to documents remained the single largest category of inquiries handled by the Ombudsman in 2025, representing 35% of all investigations. Cases ranged from delays in access-to-documents requests to scrutiny over the Commission’s handling of text messages related to Mercosur negotiations and disclosure requests concerning the Digital Services Act.
A warning against shrinking democratic space
Taken together, the report reflects growing tensions within EU governance: mounting political pressure for speed and simplification on one side, and increasing public demands for participation, transparency, and accountability on the other. For civil society organisations and democratic participation advocates, the Ombudsman’s message is clear. Public consultations, impact assessments, access to documents, and ethics safeguards are not administrative formalities – they are core democratic protections that become even more important in times of crisis.