European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen failed to take notes during critical interviews with candidates to join her team of commissioners, POLITICO can reveal.
The admission, made by the Commission in response to an access-to-documents request, was criticized by transparency advocates who said it fit a pattern of opaque and secretive administration by von der Leyen, who has led the EU executive since 2019.
In September 2024, POLITICO requested records relating to interviews between von der Leyen and Spain’s commissioner-candidate Teresa Ribera, who went on to become executive vice-president.
The Commission delayed its response for many months. Almost one year later, and after two complaints via the office of the European Ombudsman, Commission Secretary-General Ilze Juhansone admitted that “informal conversations with the selected candidates … took place orally and no documents were drawn up.”
There is no suggestion any rules were broken. But Harvard democracy fellow Alberto Alemanno said it highlighted a pattern of casual disregard for best practices by von der Leyen and her Commission.
“Once more the Commission nonchalantly departs from the basic principle of good administration,” he said.
The Commission did not respond to a request for comment.
Retaining documentation
Von der Leyen has been heavily criticized by campaigners and journalists for a perceived lack of transparency. The complaint was also at the heart of a failed no-confidence motion led by the far right against the Commission chief that roiled Brussels politics this past summer.
The Commission president’s refusal to hand over text messages between her and the CEO of drug company Pfizer led to a court ruling that contained several recommendations for how to improve practices, including a requirement that European institutions “draw up and retain documentation relating to their activities.”
“As the Pfizer judgment pointed out,” Alemanno said, “the EU Commission is under such principle [of good administration] bound to the duty of note-keeping, which apparently didn’t take place during the commissioners’ vetting process.”
The Pfizer ruling came this past May, long after the interviews von der Leyen held with commissioner candidates in the summer of 2024.
Alongside the records-keeping issues, the Ombudsman’s office told POLITICO that the yearlong wait for the Commission to respond to a basic request for documents raised further questions.
The Ombudsman has previously voiced concerns about a widespread pattern of Commission delays in responding to such requests.
In a statement, the office of Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho said: “It is very difficult for the public to understand why there are long delays in answering requests for access to documents, particularly when the reply at the end only acknowledges that no document could be found. This kind of situation can undermine citizen[] trust in the EU administration.”
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