The case concerned a former employee’s alleged unfair dismissal from and harassment at the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The Ombudsman’s inquiry focused on the issue that the EIB had allegedly wrongly denied the complainant the benefit of what is known as the ‘conciliation procedure’ provided for under Article 41 of the EIB’s Staff Regulations (which lays down that staff members may bring proceedings before the Court of Justice of the EU when a dispute arises with the EIB and that, prior to doing so, they should seek an amicable settlement, through the conciliation procedure). The Ombudsman made the preliminary finding that, by considering that the conciliation procedure could not be applied to a former member of staff who was not in receipt of an EIB pension, the EIB had committed maladministration. The Ombudsman therefore proposed that the EIB initiate the conciliation procedure without delay, as regards both the dismissal and the harassment issues. The Bank agreed to initiate the conciliation procedure as regards the dismissal issue, and referred the complainant to another procedure concerning the issue of harassment.

The Ombudsman concluded that, following her intervention, a solution had been found. She therefore closed the case.

The case concerned OLAF's actions following the receipt of a whistleblowing report linking the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) to the alleged manipulation of an aviation security inspection report. Following a preliminary assessment, the Ombudsman was concerned about what appeared to be OLAF's decision to dismiss the case and to refer the matter back to EASA despite the fact that the whistleblower had consciously chosen to make his report to OLAF rather than to EASA. The Ombudsman took the preliminary view that such a decision might impact negatively on the effectiveness of the whistleblowing provisions in general. She therefore decided to inquire into the matter.

Following an inspection of OLAF's files, the Ombudsman found that OLAF had appropriately considered whether to open an investigation. It also emerged that OLAF had not in fact closed the case but had asked EASA to examine the matter and to report back on the results of its investigation. Furthermore, OLAF had reserved the right to open a formal inquiry at a later stage. Against this background, the Ombudsman found that OLAF had dealt appropriately with the complainant's whistleblowing report. The Ombudsman noted that OLAF should have informed the complainant more explicitly that its referral of the matter to EASA did not mean that OLAF would not be taking any further action on the matter. She made a further remark in this regard.

The complainant is a temporary agent with the European Parliament. She fell ill while on annual leave. The case concerned Parliament's refusal to convert the complainant's annual leave into sick leave. The Ombudsman inquired into the issue and found no maladministration as the complainant was required to provide a current address at the time, or soon after, she submitted her medical certificate for the sick leave. That requirement was not met.

This own-initiative inquiry concerns how the European Commission ensures that the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union are complied with when EU cohesion policy is implemented by Member States. It was launched as the Union embarked on a new seven-year period of funding, covering 2014-2020, under a new legal framework.

EU cohesion policy seeks to reduce disparities between the levels of development of the various regions in the EU. Given the visibility of the Union in the projects that are funded through the cohesion policy – from improving emergency services in Romania to removing minefields in Croatia – the Ombudsman believes that the Commission should do all in its power to ensure respect for fundamental rights as the money is spent. The fact that the Commission is not directly responsible for managing the funds should never be used as a reason for not acting if fundamental rights have been, or risk being violated.

The own-initiative inquiry has involved the Commission, national ombudsmen and representatives of civil society. On the basis of their feedback, the Ombudsman has produced eight guidelines for improvement to support the Commission as it supervises the Member States in this area.

This inquiry arose in the context of the visit of the European Ombudsman to the European Institute for Gender Equality. The visit formed part of the Ombudsman's programme of visits to EU agencies aimed at spreading good practice among the agencies in their relations with citizens. As part of the visit, the Ombudsman examined (i) the Institute's initial contacts with the public, (ii) transparency, dialogue and accountability, (iii) recruitment, (iv) tenders and contracts, (v) conflicts of interest and (vi) whistleblowing. The Ombudsman made six suggestions to the Institute to improve its performance in these areas. EIGE's response confirmed that it was taking action by, among other things, making information about its work available in all EU official languages and adopting more detailed provisions in relation to whistleblowing.

As the Ombudsman's visit suggested that the Institute needed to do more to deal with, and indeed prevent, cases of harassment, she followed-up specifically on this issue and was encouraged by the determined action taken by the Institute in response. To promote further improvement, the Ombudsman has, among other things, suggested that EIGE regularly organise training in this area of central importance to the Institute's work.

Available since April 2012, the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) allows a group of at least one million EU citizens to call on the European Commission to propose new EU legislation. After receiving a number of complaints, the Ombudsman decided to investigate the proper functioning of the ECI procedure and the Commission's role and responsibility in this regard. The Ombudsman invited organisers of ECIs, civil society organisations, and other interested persons to provide input on how well the ECI is working. On the basis of these responses, the Ombudsman made a range of suggestions to the Commission to increase the effectiveness of the ECI process.

The European Commission is currently negotiating, on behalf of the European Union, a wide-ranging trade and investment partnership agreement with the United States (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - TTIP). The negotiations have attracted unprecedented public interest, given the potential economic, social and political impact TTIP may have.

The Ombudsman's inquiry aims to help ensure that the public can follow the progress of these negotiations as far as possible and contribute to shaping their outcome. In July 2014, the Ombudsman presented a first set of suggestions to the Commission. The Ombudsman also gathered ideas from the public during her inquiry to help make the talks more transparent and accessible. Following also concerns expressed by the European Parliament and civil society, the Commission outlined in November 2014 a range of ambitious transparency measures.

The Ombudsman now puts forward ten further suggestions to the Commission in relation to common negotiating texts, greater proactive disclosure of TTIP documents, and enhanced transparency of TTIP meetings. The Ombudsman considers that by following these suggestions, the Commission would ensure that the TTIP negotiating process can enjoy greater legitimacy and public trust.  

In June 2013, the Council of the EU issued negotiating directives to the European Commission to engage in negotiations, on behalf of the Union, for a trade and investment partnership agreement with the United States (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)). One year later, the Council had still not publicly disclosed the negotiating mandate, even though it seemed to be easily accessible on the Internet. The Ombudsman opened an own-initiative inquiry, inviting the Council, in the interests of transparency, good administration, the effective use of resources and, ultimately, encouraging public trust, to consider proactively publishing the document. In October 2014, the Council decided by common accord to publish the mandate.