EU Institutions Tighten Secrecy as Transparency Faces Global Backlash

The European Commission’s handling of Gaza-related documents illustrates a broader trend of political alignment dictating transparency. Michael Karnitschnig, the official overseeing the Middle East branch, currently withholds 17 audit reports on infrastructure projects in the enclave. Despite these projects being largely destroyed, the Commission cites security risks to justify the secrecy. This refusal mirrors a wider trend where officials invoke vague diplomatic concerns to bury information that could prove embarrassing to the von der Leyen administration.

Institutional resistance is not limited to the Commission. The Court of Justice of the European Union remains largely exempt from standard public access regulations, maintaining its own restrictive rules on judicial documents. Recent investigations revealed that 40 percent of court members hold financial interests in private companies, yet the court classifies previous versions of interest declarations as inaccessible, a practice currently under inquiry by the EU ombudswoman. This climate of secrecy is mirrored in member states like Germany, where government proposals to restrict freedom of information laws have sparked widespread backlash from journalists and civil society. As 73 percent of Brussels-based reporters report that current institutional practices consistently hinder their ability to investigate, the EU’s claim to transparency is increasingly at odds with its daily operations.