Strasbourg, 1 October 2007

Dear Mr D.,

On 27 June 2007, you submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman against the European Commission, concerning the latter’s reply to the e-mail you sent it on 23 December 2006.

On 24 July 2007, I forwarded the complaint to the President of the Commission.

On 6 August 2007, you sent me a letter concerning your complaint, in which you asked the Ombudsman, for the reasons explained therein, not to pursue his inquiry into your complaint.

I am writing now to let you know the results of the inquiries that have been made.

THE COMPLAINT

According to the complainant, the relevant facts are as follows:

On 23 December 2006, the complainant contacted by e-mail Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, concerning the dismissal of two Romanian university professors for having, allegedly, used minority languages in their work.

On 14 February 2007, Commissioner Rehn's Head of Cabinet informed the complainant that Vice-President Franco Frattini, responsible for the area of Justice, Freedom and Security, is in charge of these issues.

On 21 February 2007, the complainant forwarded his e-mail messages to Vice-President Frattini.

On 24 April 2007, Mr Frattini's Head of Cabinet informed the complainant that Commissioner Ludovic Orban, responsible for Multilinguism, was dealing with the issues raised in his correspondence, and that his Head of Cabinet would ensure the follow-up of it.

On 21 May 2007, the complainant contacted Commissioner Orban's Head of Cabinet, who stated that she was not aware of the exchange of correspondence between the complainant and the Heads of Cabinet of the other two Commissioners. At that point, the complainant submitted his first complaint to the European Ombudsman (reference 1441/2007/RT). In that complainant, he alleged that the Commission had failed to reply to his correspondence.

Following the Ombudsman's intervention, on 26 June 2007, the Commission sent a reply to the complainant and a copy to the Ombudsman. In its reply, the Commission stated that "the services of the Vice-President Frattini will ensure in cooperation with [the] services of Commissioner Orban that the complainant will receive an appropriate answer". The Ombudsman decided to close the case as settled by the institution, but pointed out that this decision did not involve an evaluation of the substance of the answer that the Commission would send him.

On 27 June 2007, the complainant lodged the present complaint with the Ombudsman, which was registered under the reference 1738/2007/RT. The complainant stated that he was not satisfied with the Commission's answer, because, inter alia, he had received the same holding reply on 24 April 2007 and, in the meantime, no substantive reply had been sent.

The complainant alleged that the Commission failed properly to handle his request.

THE INQUIRY

The complainant's letter of 6 August 2007

In his letter of 6 August 2007, the complainant stated that he received a letter from the services of the Commission's Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security dated 11 July 2007, explaining the procedure that the two Romanian university professors should follow if they believe they have been the victims of discrimination based on ethnic origin. The letter also detailed the legal basis of the procedure based on the Community law.

The complainant took the view that the Commission had taken the necessary steps to handle his complaint.

Therefore, the complainant asked the Ombudsman not to pursue his inquiry into his complaint. The complainant also thanked the Ombudsman for "bringing the administration of the Commission next to the citizens".

THE DECISION

1 The complainant's allegation

1.1 The complainant alleges that the European Commission failed properly to handle his request of 23 December 2006.

1.2 After the European Ombudsman had opened an inquiry and asked the Commission to send its remarks on the complaint, the complainant informed the Ombudsman that he had, in the meantime, received a letter from the Commission's services explaining the steps that the two Romanian university professors should take if they believe that they have been the victims of discrimination based on ethnic origin. Given that the complainant considered that the Commission had taken the necessary steps to handle his complaint, he asked the Ombudsman not to pursue further his inquiry into it.

2 Conclusion

It appears from the complainant's letter of 6 August 2007 that the Commission has taken steps to settle the matter and has thereby satisfied the complainant. The Ombudsman therefore closes the case.

The President of the Commission will also be informed of this decision.

Yours sincerely,

 

P. Nikiforos DIAMANDOUROS