Ombudsman looks into whether the European Commission pays its bills on time

Διαθέσιμες γλώσσες  :  de.en.fr

Press release no. 17/2007

20 December 2007

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has started an investigation into the subject of the timeliness of payments made by the European Commission. This follows complaints from individuals, companies and organisations involved in EU-funded projects and contracts. The Ombudsman has asked the Commission to provide information on what has been done to avoid late payment, statistical data on late payment cases, as well as information about the Commission's policy on paying interest.

Mr Diamandouros said: "Small and medium-sized enterprises, schools, NGOs and other organisations rely on timely payments for their work on EU projects. I am confident that the Commission will, in the future, do its best to avoid delays which often cause considerable problems for complainants with limited financial resources".

Background

In February 2001, the European Ombudsman closed his first investigation into late payment problems within the Commission. This found that the Commission had taken satisfactory steps to tackle the problem. Over the last six years, however, the Ombudsman has looked into more than 30 late payment complaints.

Among the complainants who faced problems were NGOs, research centres, universities, associations and regional offices. Most recently, the Ombudsman helped a French company obtain reimbursement of EUR 88 000 from the Commission. Another case concerned late payment for an exchange programme of pupils between music schools in the UK and Germany. The Ombudsman also received two complaints from an expert who works regularly for the Commission.

The Ombudsman has therefore launched this second investigation in order to find out what steps the Commission has taken to avoid late payment to contractors and to beneficiaries of grants and subsidies. He has asked the Commission to provide information about the number of late payment cases, the extent of delays that have occurred and the Commission's policy concerning the payment of interest. The Ombudsman has invited the Commission to send its opinion by 31 March 2008 at the latest.

To read the letter opening the investigation, please visit:

http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/cases/correspondence.faces/en/3519/html.bookmark

 

For information about the investigation: Mr Gerhard Grill, Senior Legal Advisor, tel: +33 388 172423

Ο Ευρωπαίος Διαμεσολαβητής διερευνά αναφορές που αφορούν περιπτώσεις κακοδιοίκησης στα θεσμικά όργανα, τα λοιπά όργανα και τους οργανισμούς της ΕΕ. Στον Ευρωπαίο Διαμεσολαβητή μπορεί να υποβάλλει αναφορά κάθε πολίτης ή κάτοικος της ΕΕ, όπως και κάθε επιχείρηση ή οργάνωση που εδρεύει σε ένα κράτος μέλος. Ο Διαμεσολαβητής συνιστά έναν γρήγορο, ευέλικτο και δωρεάν τρόπο επίλυσης των προβλημάτων με τη διοίκηση της ΕΕ. Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες επισκεφθείτε την ιστοσελίδα του Ευρωπαίου Διαμεσολαβητή (www.ombudsman.europa.eu)

Πληροφορίες: Κυρία Gundi Gadesmann, Υπεύθυνη Μέσων Ενημέρωσης και Εξωτερικών Σχέσεων, τηλ.: +32 2 284 26 09, Twitter @GundiGadesmann, @EUombudsman