Respect for Animals has welcomed a significant intervention by the European Ombudsman after a complaint we initiated over the European Commission’s handling of the Fur Free Europe European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI).
The complaint, filed on behalf of the Fur Free Europe ECI Citizens’ Committee by Respect for Animals, Eurogroup for Animals and FOUR PAWS, raises serious concerns about transparency, fairness and democratic integrity in the Commission’s handling of the initiative.
The European Ombudsman has now asked the Commission to respond without delay to concerns raised by the ECI organisers. According to the Ombudsman’s response, the complaint has been found admissible and a formal inquiry has been opened. The Ombudsman has also asked the Commission to reply to the ECI Committee’s meeting request before adopting its final position on Fur Free Europe, currently expected in March 2026.
At the heart of the complaint is a simple issue: while the Commission held closed-door workshops with the fur industry, the organisers of a successful citizens’ initiative backed by more than 1.5 million people were denied equivalent access. The complaint also raises concerns over missing transparency around those exchanges, including the non-disclosure of key information and documents.
This matters far beyond the fur issue itself. The ECI is supposed to be one of the EU’s flagship democratic tools. If industry lobbyists are granted privileged access while citizens’ representatives are sidelined, trust in the process is damaged at the very moment the Commission is preparing its response.
Richard Bissett, Campaigns Manager at Respect for Animals, said:
“We initiated this complaint because what happened was unacceptable. At a decisive moment in the Fur Free Europe process, the Commission appeared to give privileged access to the fur lobby while sidelining the organisers of a successful democratic initiative.
The Ombudsman’s intervention is a serious development. The complaint has been found admissible and a formal inquiry has been opened, sending a clear message that these concerns cannot simply be ignored.
More than 1.5 million citizens have called for a Fur Free Europe. The Commission must now stop treating this like business as usual, ensure a fair and transparent process, and deliver the response the evidence and public mandate demand: a ban on fur farming and the placing of farmed fur products on the EU market.”
The Commission is expected to publish its follow-up to the Fur Free Europe ECI in March 2026. Respect for Animals will continue to work with partners across Europe to challenge any attempt to sideline the ECI’s democratic mandate or shield the fur industry from the consequences of the evidence against it.
Background
- Fur Free Europe is a European Citizens’ Initiative calling for an EU ban on fur farming and on the placing of farmed fur products on the EU market.
- The initiative was backed by more than 1.5 million verified signatures.
- Respect for Animals, Eurogroup for Animals and FOUR PAWS filed the Ombudsman complaint on behalf of the ECI Citizens’ Committee.
- The Ombudsman has asked the Commission to respond to the ECI organisers’ concerns and address the pending meeting request before adopting its final position
