Original article by European Coalition for Corporate Justice together with ClientEarth, Anti-Slavery International, Clean Clothes Campaign, Friends of the Earth Europe, Global Witness, Notre Affaire À Tous, and T&E (Transport & Environment)

Brussels, 27 November 2025: European NGOs have welcomed a landmark finding by EU Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho that the European Commission committed maladministration when rolling back key environmental and human-rights protections. The ruling concerns the Commission’s handling of the first “Omnibus” package on corporate sustainability rules and the 2024 simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy, both of which were found to breach core principles of good administration, including transparency, inclusiveness and evidence-based lawmaking. The decision follows complaints from a coalition of eight NGOs, who argued that the Commission relied on opaque, industry-dominated processes that sidelined public-interest groups and failed to meet legal requirements for impact and climate-consistency assessments.

NGOs say the ruling sends a strong warning as the Commission advances further omnibus simplification packages that could dilute environmental and human-rights safeguards. The Ombudswoman’s investigation found the Commission skipped mandatory impact assessments, limited stakeholder consultation and offered no proof of the climate-consistency checks required under EU law. With multiple new packages still in the pipeline, campaigners insist that policymakers must now restore democratic standards and ensure full evidence-based scrutiny of any proposed changes — and, if these conditions cannot be met, withdraw the proposals altogether.