Following a charge by the English NGO Statewatch, European Mediator Nikiforos Diamandouros formalized a decision criticizing the European Commission for not having published the 2005 Annual Report on public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. During the lawsuit before Strasburg’s Ombudsman, the lawyers of the Commission – admitting the delay – had ascribed motivation to renewal of the staff in charge of issuing the Report and to modification in regulations concerning public access to documents. Nonetheless, the Mediator ruled that “the violation of a legal constraint is certainly due to faulty administration”.
