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The ombudsman’s role within the European Union is to uphold transparency norms and root out possible conflicts of interest, for example, between industry and the EU institutions. But their judgements are nonbinding and at the mercy of EU institutions to implement them.
The outgoing ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, held the post for more than a decade. She was not afraid to call out key figures such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on her text messages to Pfizer’s CEO during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Politics is likely to play an “even bigger role in the next ombudsman’s time than it did in mine. Try and try and resist that,” advised O’Reilly.
