European Commission asked to retain text messages sent by heads of state and government

An inquiry by European Ombudswoman Anjinho has found maladministration for how the European Commission dealt with a request for public access to a text message sent by the French President to the President of the European Commission concerning the EU-Mercosur trade deal.


In response to the access request, which came from a journalist, the Commission indicated that the message had been automatically deleted due to the ‘disappearing messages’ feature having been activated on the President’s phone.

In examining how the Commission handled the matter following a complaint by the journalist, the Ombudswoman’s inquiry was unable to establish whether the text message was deleted before or after the public access request was submitted.

It was also not possible to establish whether the Commission searched for the text when it received the request or if it only did so a year later when it replied to the request. The Ombudswoman noted that the fact that these relevant timelines could not be established was an issue in itself.

Information obtained during the inquiry did however show that the access request was not handled by the Commission President’s Cabinet (personal office) for a period of 15 months.

To address the issues raised by the Commission’s handling of this request, the Ombudswoman recommended the Commission review and improve how it deals with public access requests when the Cabinet of the President or of any Commissioner is involved. The progress of such requests should also be actively and closely monitored to avoid delays.

The Ombudswoman also asked the Commission to retain all text messages between Heads of State or Government and Commissioners, and between ministers and Commissioners, for a reasonable period to allow for the possibility of public scrutiny through access requests.

Additionally, the Commission should ensure that once an access to documents request is received, the document in question is retained until the access request has been fully completed. This would allow an independent body such as the European Ombudsman or the Court of Justice of the European Union to verify if any refusal to grant access is justified.

Background

The complainant asked for public access to the text message in January 2024. The Commission took no action on the request until the complainant submitted a further request (confirmatory application) in July 2025.  

The inspected documents showed that the Secretariat-General did not issue a reminder or take any further action to monitor how the Commission President’s Cabinet team was following up on the request.

Citing case-law and the law on access to EU documents (Regulation 1049/2001), the Ombudswoman disagreed with the Commission’s reasoning that it could leave the access request ‘dormant’ as the complainant had not immediately made a follow-up request once the time limit on the initial request had expired.

The Ombudswoman’s inquiry team inspected the Commission’s file on the public access request and held a meeting with representatives of the Commission as part of the inquiry. (source: ombudsman.europa.eu/ photo pixabay.com)

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