The Good Lobby welcomes the European Ombudsman’s decision to open an inquiry into how the EU Commission has handled the Fur Free Europe European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) – a landmark democratic process backed by more than 1.5 million EU citizens – calling for a ban on fur farming and the sale of fur products in the EU.
This important step follows a complaint filed by Professor Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby, on behalf of Eurogroup for Animals, FOUR PAWS, Respect for Animals, and the Fur Free Europe ECI Committee. The Ombudsman’s decision confirms that serious procedural concerns merit scrutiny, at a decisive moment, just before the Commission publishes its long-awaited response to the initiative scheduled for March 2026.
A timely intervention
In her admissibility decision, the European Ombudsman has taken immediate and concrete action on the central issue raised in the complaint: the Commission’s failure to respond to a formal meeting request sent on 12 December 2025 by the Fur Free Europe Citizens’ Committee. Crucially, the Ombudsman has asked the Commission to reply before it adopts its final position on the ECI, expected in March 2026. This restores a minimum level of procedural fairness and ensures that the citizens’ committee can finally present its arguments directly, including concerns about stakeholder balance and the use of scientific evidence.
Keeping substantive concerns alive
While the Ombudsman has not yet opened a full inquiry into all aspects of the complaint, she has adopted a constructive procedural approach that keeps the most sensitive issues firmly on the table.
She has required the European Commission to address, in its reply:
- balanced stakeholder involvement, and
- evidence -based decision-making, including the proper consideration of scientific findings.
This is particularly significant given the concerns raised about the Commission’s engagement strategy so far. As documented in the complaint, Commission services held multiple workshops with fur industry representatives while failing to respond to repeated meeting requests from civil society organisations and the ECI committee – including a direct request to meet Health and Animal Welfare Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi. At the same time, the Commission’s consultation process appeared to sideline the conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority, which found that the welfare needs of animals kept for fur cannot be adequately met under current farming conditions.
Transparency still under scrutiny
The Ombudsman has also decoupled the complaint’s access-to-documents component, which concerns the Commission’s refusal to disclose minutes and background materials related to its meetings with industry stakeholders. A separate decision on this matter is expected once additional documentation has been assessed. This strand of the case is vital: transparency about who influences EU decision-making, and how, is a cornerstone of democratic accountability.
A broader democratic crisis
Designed as a direct channel for citizens to shape the EU’s political agenda, the ECI has too often become an exercise in frustration, delay, and institutional discretion.
End the Cage Age gathered 1.4 million signatures and secured, in 2021, a formal commitment by the Commission to propose a ban on cage farming by the end of 2023. That deadline passed. Then 2024. Now 2026, and no proposal has ever materialised. The ECI committee has taken the Commission to court. This Thursday, 5 March, a crucial hearing will take place in Luxembourg before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Good Lobby’s legal team will be present under the lead of Professor Daniel Sarmiento, representing Eurogroup for Animals as a third-party intervening.
As the Commission prepares to publish its final response to Fur Free Europe, and as the Court hears the End the Cage Age case this week, one message must remain clear: when citizens mobilise in their millions, their voices cannot be sidelined.