EU Ombudsman Finds Maladministration in Omnibus

The European Ombudswoman has determined that the European Commission’s management of the procedures regarding the Omnibus proposal amounted to maladministration, meaning it did not adequately fulfill its obligation under the Better Regulation rules to ensure evidence-based, transparent, and inclusive lawmaking.

Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho opened the inquiry in May 2025 after a complaint from eight nongovernmental organizations accusing the Commission of taking an undemocratic and rushed approach to amending the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) as part of the Omnibus simplification package.

The Omnibus finding was one of three cases submitted to the Ombudswoman regarding the commission’s Better Regulation rules, the other cases relating to countering migrant smuggling and the Common Agricultural Policy. The Ombudswoman determined that procedural irregularities in all three cases amounted to maladministration.

In a LinkedIn post, Andreas Rasche, professor and associate dean at the Copenhagen Business School, said that although the Ombudswoman has no legal powers, her assessments carry significant weight, and that her findings indicate bigger problems with the Omnibus process as a whole.