The Institutionalisation of the European Ombudsman and New Investigation Instruments: A Case Study of the 2017–2019 Investigation in the European Medicines Agency

The European Ombudsman, created just 30 years ago, is a profoundly hybrid body: both parliamentary and judicial; it does, however, not fall entirely into either of these two categories. Its powers are similar both to parliamentary scrutiny, without being a legislative body, and to judicial scrutiny, without binding competences. However, its unique nature has not prevented the Ombudsman from evolving through a continuous increase in its powers and influence over the institutions, bodies, and agencies of the European Union. This dynamic has accelerated since the 2010s and was confirmed by the European Parliament voting a reform of its Statute in 2021, which validates, among other things, new powers of own-initiative inquiry, notably the strategic inquiry, thus reinforcing the European Ombudsman’s independence. However, the formalisation of these new powers has not automatically led to their full effectiveness. Precisely, this chapter aims to provide an analysis of this decoupling, explained by the process of institutionalisation of the European Ombudsman, through the study of a strategic investigation conducted by the Ombudsman in 2017–2019 into one of the most controversial agencies of the Union: the European Medicines Agency.