Press release
Ombudswoman keeps heat on Commission over fast-tracked rollback agenda
25 June 2026
ClientEarth lawyers have applauded the European Ombudswoman’s latest move - which maintains scrutiny of the European Commission handling of controversial Omnibus proposals and other fast-tracked legislative rollbacks.
Since 2024, the Commission has increasingly rolled back environmental protections through accelerated procedures, starting with changes to the Common Agricultural Policy and followed by a series of ten ‘Omnibus’ proposals. The Environmental Omnibus, for example, proposed to scrap permitting rules while the Food and Feed Omnibus sparked controversy by introducing long-lasting authorisations of harmful pesticides.
Despite their potential far-reaching consequences for people and the environment, these initiatives were not preceded by impact assessments, in clear breach of the rules the Commission is required to follow.
The Ombudswoman’s decision published today marks a significant victory for the organisations that lodged complaints over the flawed processes underpinning the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy and Omnibus I on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
Echoing the complainants’ criticisms, the Ombudswoman remains unconvinced by the Commission’s vague assurances that it will improve its lawmaking procedures following her finding of maladministration. She calls on the institution to show, in practice, how it will ensure transparent, evidence-based and inclusive law-making — including when acting under urgent procedures.
ClientEarth lawyer Quentin Mautray said :
“The Ombudswoman’s decision sends a clear message: the Commission cannot use political whims as a shortcut around evidence, transparency and public participation – all key democratic safeguards that guarantee our laws effectively protect people and their environment. If the Commission is serious about better regulation, it must show that in practice — not only in vague political assurances.”
While welcoming the Commission’s commitment to publish climate consistency assessments for all legislative proposals, as required by the EU Climate Law, the decision serves as a timely warning as the institution is currently revising its own Better Regulation Guidelines.
The EU watchdog makes clear that:
- the commitments set out in its response to the Ombudswoman’s findings, as well as in its recent communication on how it plans to update its Better Regulation Guidelines remain insufficiently concrete and have “not dispelled the Ombudsman’s doubts” about the Commission’s ability “to ensure a sufficiently transparent, evidence-based and inclusive law-making process.”
- changes in the political priorities of the Commission’s leadership should not be used to justify departures from the procedural rules governing new legislation;
- the Commission’s so-called “implementation dialogues” and “reality checks” - which have increasingly replaced standard consultation procedures - are structurally imbalanced, giving disproportionate weight to big lobbies over civil society, affected communities and environmental interests.
The European Ombudswoman and NGOs will continue to monitor the upcoming revision of Better Regulation Guidelines and closely scrutinise the Commission’s legislative practices, keeping pressure on the EU executive to turn its promises into concrete safeguards and demonstrate a clear break with practices from the past two years.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Read the EU Ombudswoman final decision on cases 983/2025/MIK - the “Omnibus” case and 1379/2024/MIK - the “CAP” case
Timeline of the NGO complaints on the CAP and Omnibus 1
· 24 July 2024 - ClientEarth and BirdLife Europe and Central Asia raised the alarm about the Commission’s bypassing of democratic process, to usher through a weakening of key environmental requirements in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - amidst farmers’ protests. Read our press release.
· 18 April 2025 - A coalition of eight NGOs (ClientEarth, Anti-Slavery International, Clean Clothes Campaign, European Coalition for Corporate Justice, Friends of the Earth Europe, Global Witness, Notre Affaire À Tous and T&E) lodged a formal complaint with the European Ombudsman, condemning the undemocratic, untransparent and rushed way in which the European Commission has developed the Omnibus I proposal. Read our press release .
· 27 November 2025 – the EU Ombudswoman found that the EU Commission committed maladministration in rolling back key environmental and human rights protections. Read our press release.
· 20 February 2026 – the Commission responds to the EU Ombudswoman findings, admitting transparency failures but refusing to fix flawed law making. Read our press release.
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