Lack of transparency (916/2000/GG)

Council releases documents to Statewatch after Ombudsman intervenes.

Statewatch, a UK-based group monitoring civil liberties in the EU, complained to the Ombudsman after the Council refused to give it access to the agendas of the "Senior Level Group" and the "EU-US Task Force". The Council claimed that the documents were not "held by the Council" but by its General Secretariat, an institution "different" from the Council. The Ombudsman rejected this argument, underlining the importance of safeguarding the widest possible access for European citizens to information and the need to respect rules on the right of access to documents. The Council reconsidered its initial decision and gave the complainant access to the documents.

Delayed payment (780/2000/GG)

A German firm receives payment and interest from 1995 after complaining to the Ombudsman.

A German consulting firm complained that the Commission had still not paid the final instalment of its fee after a six-year delay. The firm had handed in the necessary programme report and the financial statement in 1994. The Ombudsman found that the files relating to the programme had been held by the Commission's technical assistance office (TAO). This office was then closed and the relevant files sealed by the Belgian judiciary, meaning that the Commission did not have access to them. The Ombudsman found that even though part of the delay might be due to a failure by the TAO to deal with the case, the Commission could not be exonerated. During the course of his inquiry, the Commission obtained a copy of the files and paid the final instalment and interest from 1995.

Avoidable delay (367/98/(VK)GG)

The Commission settles complaint about supplementary insurance schemes for its local staff in Austria.

The Ombudsman received a complaint from two members of the local staff of the Commission's representation in Vienna, claiming that the Commission had failed to set up supplementary insurance schemes for its local staff working there. According to rules that entered into force in 1994, the Commission was obliged to set these schemes up, within a reasonable time. More than six years later, it had failed to do so. Responding to the Ombudsman, the Commission said that it had concluded a contract with a company for a supplementary insurance policy for temporary incapacity to work. It also agreed to set up supplementary insurance policies regarding invalidity, death and retirement, with retroactive effect as from 1 January 1995.

Negligence (OI/3/2001/SM)

The Directorate for Resources of the Commission's Joint Research Centre adopts measures to improve its working methods after Ombudsman investigates.

The Ombudsman launched an own-initiative inquiry into the functioning of the Directorate in Ispra, Italy after he had to make numerous critical remarks on issues ranging from poor treatment of grant holders to irregular recruitment procedures to unfair contract clauses. Responding to the inquiry, the Directorate announced measures including instructions to staff to avoid excessive delays when responding to tender applications, an internal computerised system to keep track of deadlines for replying to correspondence, a decentralised complaints procedure and a decentralised financial control system.

Infringement of rights of defence (995/98/OV)

Commission moves to defend citizens' rights in infringement cases after Ombudsman's inquiry.

A Greek citizen brought a case to the Commission, alleging that the Greek authorities had violated Community public procurement law in awarding the project to construct the Metro in Thessaloniki. The complainant then called into question the way the Commission had investigated and closed his case. The Ombudsman found that the Commission misinformed the complainant of the reasons for closing its investigation and closed the case without giving the complainant a genuine opportunity to produce further evidence. He criticised the Commission over its handling of the complaint and suggested that a Code be drawn up to govern how the Commission deals with citizens in the administrative stage of the infringement procedure. On 20 March 2002, the Commission submitted a Communication regarding this problem to the Ombudsman and the European Parliament.