The case concerned a call for proposals drawn up and published by the EU Delegation to Albania in the context of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. The call was aimed at young architects and involved project proposals for new bed and breakfast buildings. The Delegation assigned the task of running the competition to external contractors. One of the participating architects complained that the procedure lacked transparency and impartiality.

The Ombudsman found that the Delegation had ensured that the process was fair, objective and transparent. She closed the inquiry finding that there was no maladministration.

The case concerned the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) rejection of a request for funding, under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), for a digital economy project in Guadeloupe.

The Ombudsman opened an inquiry into how the EIB had dealt with the funding request and whether it had provided a reasonable explanation for rejecting it. The Ombudsman also looked into how the EIB’s Complaints Mechanism handled the subsequent complaint about the EIB’s decision to reject the request.

The Ombudsman found that, after the EIB-CM got involved, the EIB settled the matter of failure to reply to the complainant. For the rest, the Ombudsman found no maladministration. She identified, however, room for improvement in how the EIB-CM deals with matters that fall outside its remit and made a suggestion for improvement.