P. Nikiforos Diamandouros

The European Ombudsman

Editorial

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to my website! You may have noticed that the website has a new look! The Ombudsman launched a new visual identity on 27 September 2010. The launch coincided with the fifteenth anniversary of the institution. On that same day, the Ombudsman also presented his strategy for the 2009-2014 mandate, which outlines a set of objectives and priorities designed to ensure that EU citizens enjoy their rights fully, and to enhance the quality of EU administration. The strategy is available in the "Resources" section of this website.

The aim of the site is to give you clear, succinct, and easy-to-understand information on what the European Ombudsman can do for you. In addition, you can find out what the Ombudsman has achieved to date, and how to lodge a complaint. The website is regularly updated with press releases, details of upcoming events, publications, and case summaries.

The website also contains an interactive guide in all the 23 official EU languages. On any given day, dozens of citizens receive advice through the guide. It is there to help you quickly identify the most appropriate body to turn to, if you want to lodge a complaint. This service is proving particularly useful for citizens, businesses, and other organisations throughout Europe. As of 5 January 2011, the second anniversary of the interactive guide's launch, more than 45 000 persons had made use of this service.

Even if you do not wish to lodge a complaint, you may be interested in finding out more about the Ombudsman's work of holding the EU institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies to account. The "Cases" section on the website allows you to search through all the Ombudsman's decisions, draft recommendations, and special reports, as well as summaries of cases.

I hope the site will continue to prove a valuable resource for all those who follow the Ombudsman's work. Enjoy visiting it and please feel free to contact me with any feedback or suggestions that you wish to make.

All the best,

P. Nikiforos Diamandouros

The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration in the institutions and bodies of the European Union.

If you are a citizen of a Member State of the Union or reside in a Member State, you can make a complaint to the European Ombudsman. Businesses, associations or other bodies with a registered office in the Union may also complain to the Ombudsman.

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Cases opened

31 January 2012: The actions of the European Parliament in relation to the publication of the article "Cash for Legislation" by the UK newspaper 'The Sunday Times'

1) The complainant alleged that Parliament failed: (i) to comply with its security rules, thus enabling two journalists from the Sunday Times to act under cover within Parliament's premises, making unauthorised recordings with audio and video recording devices, amongst other things; (ii) to bring criminal charges against the Sunday Times or to inform the competent public prosecutor of the illegal entry into its premises; and (iii) to impose the sanctions provided in its Rules governing Photographers and Television Crews inside its buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg (Bureau Decision of 7 September 2005).

2) Parliament failed to defend the complainant from the accusations made against him or to offer him legal assistance. Moreover, Parliament lacks a specialized body or procedure able to defend MEPs against defamatory accusations.

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31 January 2012: OLAF's investigation concerning the complainant, following the publication of the article "Cash for Legislation" by the UK newspaper 'The Sunday Times'
31 January 2012: Unequal treatment of candidates due to the neutralisation of questions in the admission tests of Open Competitions
All cases opened...

Closing summaries of cases

Delay in reacting to the complainant's observations in an infringement case (Added on: 08 February 2012)

Summary of decision on complaint 489/2011/MHZ against the European Commission

A Polish NGO submitted a complaint to the Commission alleging that Poland infringed EU environmental law by allowing the construction of a high voltage power line in an inhabited area. The Commission took a preliminary decision to close the complaint file and invited the complainant to submit observations. After the complainant did so, it took the Commission seven months to take a final decision. The complainant alleged that its case had been mishandled and turned to the Ombudsman.

In its opinion, the Commission was not able to justify its delay. However, it provided an exemplary statement of reasons for its decision to close the infringement complaint in its letters sent directly to the complainant. It referred in detail to its contacts with the Polish authorities regarding the infringement case and exhaustively explained why it considered that EU law had not been violated.

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Failure to respect procedural rules in an infringement case (Added on: 06 February 2012)
Refusal to grant access to the manual of procedures for competition cases (Added on: 01 February 2012)
All summaries...

Press releases

24 January 2012: Ombudsman achieves friendly solution: NGO receives EUR 70 000 from the Commission

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has helped settle a dispute between the European Commission and the NGO Migration Policy Group (MPG) concerning an EU project launched as part of the "European Migration Dialogue". After an audit, the Commission issued a recovery order for more than EUR 130 000 because MPG had delivered too late supporting documents for staff costs. The Commission eventually accepted a friendly solution proposal from the Ombudsman and refunded EUR 70 000 to the NGO.

Mr Diamandouros commented: "I very much welcome the Commission's positive reply to my friendly solution proposal. Friendly solutions are an excellent tool to achieve win-win outcomes for both complainants and the EU institutions concerned and should be used as often as possible whenever conflicts arise in EU projects or programmes."

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12 January 2012: Ombudsman: Commission needs to review the "Early Warning System"
05 January 2012: Ombudsman welcomes release of adverse reaction reports by European Medicines Agency
All press releases...