1. The background to the inquiry

1. In May 2011, the Ombudsman launched a programme of visits to EU agencies, with the aim of identifying and spreading best practices used by the agencies in their relations with citizens. By letter of 5 May 2012, the Ombudsman informed Eurofound that, in the framework of his programme of visits to agencies, he had decided to visit Eurofound on 15 May 2012. A draft agenda with the specific issues that the Ombudsman wished to look at was sent to Eurofound.

2. The subject matter of the inquiry

2. The meeting with Eurofound's management took place on 15 May 2012. The Ombudsman was accompanied by Mr Fergal O' Regan, Head of Unit. Eurofound was represented by Mr Juan Menéndez-Valdés, Director, who was accompanied by members of staff, including all senior members of staff.

3. The meeting started with a short presentation made by the Ombudsman as regards the purpose of the programme of visits to agencies and the procedures applied by the Ombudsman as regards such visits. The Ombudsman briefly clarified that his visits are formally carried out on the basis of his competence to conduct own-initiative inquiries. An own-initiative inquiry implies, among others, that the usual procedural guarantees concerning such inquiries apply. These include the agency's right, as envisaged in Articles 5.1, 5.2 and 14.2 of the Ombudsman's Implementing Provisions (www.ombudsman.europa.eu/resources/provisions.faces), to request the European Ombudsman to treat information and documents on a confidential basis.

4. Following this clarification, the Ombudsman was presented with detailed answers to the questions raised in the letter announcing the visit. The presentation and ensuing discussion centred around the following topics:

-Eurofound's initial contacts with the public

-Transparency, dialogue and accountability

-Recruitment

-Tenders and contracts

-Conflicts of interest

5. The Director of Eurofound then provided the Ombudsman with detailed information about Eurofound, its mission and organisation. The Director stressed the importance of the on-going reform of the legal framework for agencies. He underlined Eurofound's awareness of the need to improve practises. In this context, he referred to the four-year, multi-annual planning programme, which was under discussion at the time. He described the importance for Eurofound of consultation with stakeholders, including EU institutions, national level partners and employers and union representatives. He also noted that, given its specialised role, the wider public is not as concerned with the work of Eurofound.

6. The senior members of staff present made presentations, with a view to answering the questions put by the Ombudsman in his letter opening his own initiative inquiry. Supporting documents were also provided to the Ombudsman.

(A) Complying with the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour and ethical standards

7. Eurofound explained to the Ombudsman that the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour is posted on Eurofound's website, as well as its intranet site. Staff members are also provided with copies of the printed version of the Code in the context of the Induction Process. They are also asked to sign that they have received it.

8. Eurofound also informed the Ombudsman that the content of the Code, in particular ethical standards, such as integrity, fairness, objectivity and equal treatment, form part of the assessment criteria in the annual evaluation of staff members. In order to give greater effect to the Code, Eurofound undertook the commitment to distribute information documents and organise training sessions.

9. Eurofound also focused on the need to ensure effective communication between management and staff and on better flow of information through the intranet, newsletters, alerts, box for ideas and staff surveys.

(B) Access to information and documents

10. Eurofound explained its information policy. Eurofound handles a huge amount of policy documents and information. Its website is built on the logic that documents and information regarding Eurofound's core activities should be available and easily accessible. Being proactive is one of Eurofound's main concerns. Eurofound provided the Ombudsman with documents describing the standard procedure for replying to requests for information and documents. Eurofound noted that, in the period 2008-2011, it received only three requests for public access to documents that were not already in the public domain. Two were from universities and one was from a consultancy. In order to deal with such requests, it has a functional mailbox, with a link on its website to that mailbox. Eurofound noted that it has a register of documents, organised by functional area. It also makes available a step-by-step guide concerning how to make use of the right of public access to documents. As regards the three requests, two were granted. The applicant in the third request was informed that the documents requested did not exist. Eurofound respected the deadlines in all three cases. There were no complaints in relation to how it handled those requests. As regards requests for information, it noted that most requests are dealt with on the same day. Normally, handling such requests takes no more than three days. Eurofound was of the view that the public is highly satisfied with its work in this area. A satisfaction survey noted that 80% of persons were happy with the answers provided. As regards direct access to documents over the internet, 85% of users indicated, on a web survey, that they had found the documents that they were looking for on the Eurofound website.

11. In the course of the meeting it was also pointed out that a number of documents regarding financial and organisational matters are available on Eurofound's website. The names and emails of all the key staff members are publicly available.

12. As regards Eurofound's language policy, it was explained that all core information concerning Eurofound is available in all official languages. Furthermore, all executive summaries of reports are made available in all languages. All full reports are made available in English.

(C) Selection and recruitment

13. Eurofound provided information regarding its selection procedures. It informed the Ombudsman that all candidates, both successful and unsuccessful, receive an acknowledgment of receipt by email, once they have submitted their application, and then they are informed about the outcome of the procedure, again by email. Candidates have access to the assessments of their applications. In particular, they may ask for a summary feedback in the pre-selection phase and for aggregate results in the written test and interview phase. Both notes and assessment sheet are disclosed.

14. According to Eurofound, the names of the members of selection boards are made public on request.

15. Eurofound informs candidates about the possibility to complain to the Ombudsman and about judicial remedies.

(D) Tenders

16. Eurofound informed the Ombudsman that detailed guidelines and instructions about tenders are available on its website.

17. It explained that information on current and future tenders are made public on its website. Information on all contracts that are awarded is also made public Tenderers can submit their offers in all official languages. Eurofound informed the Ombudsman that, in order to ensure transparent and fair procurement procedures: (a) all communication with tenderers is conducted by the procurement department and always in writing, (b) letters rejecting offers include reasons for non-selection, (c) when receiving additional requests regarding non-selection decisions, a more detailed comparison with the successful tenderer is provided. It noted that 80% of tenderers ask for feedback. It added that it was involved in only one court case involving tenders and two Ombudsman cases.

18. As regards subcontractors, it added that it had encountered no specific problems in this area.

19. It added that tenderers are informed of the possibility to complain to the Ombudsman and to go to court.

(E) Conflicts of interests

20. Regarding avoiding conflicts of interest in recruitment, Eurofound provided the Ombudsman with the Guide for selection boards, as well as with the confidentiality and non-conflict of interest statement that needs to be signed by all selection board members. It added that staff do recuse themselves, if they are in a conflict of interest as regards a candidate. Technical experts asked to assist the selection board are subject to the same procedures. It added that all tests are anonymised and marked "blind".

21. Eurofound also noted that a letter signed by the Head of Human Resources reminds departing members of staff of their obligations once they leave the service.

22. Regarding procurement, it was pointed out that all members of opening and evaluation committees, as well as external evaluators, receive guidelines and sign a non-conflict declaration.

23. Eurofound agreed that a broad definition of the notion of conflict of interest, which included the concept of apparent conflict, was appropriate.

3. The Ombudsman's findings and suggestions

(A) Complying with the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour and ethical standards

25. The Ombudsman welcomes Eurofound's commitment to providing its staff with a wide range of information relating to good administrative behaviour and ethical standards and to organise trainings on specific topics.

(B) Access to information and documents

26. Promoting greater openness and dialogue in the EU administration is fundamental to the European Ombudsman's mission. As noted above, the Eurofound's mission is strongly focussed on dissemination of information. The Ombudsman was therefore not surprised to learn that Eurofound only rarely has to handle requests for public access to documents and information submitted through the formal procedures laid down in the European Union's regulation on access to documents. It is the Ombudsman's understanding that the EU legislation on public access to documents, that is, Regulation 1049/2001, applies to the Agency in its entirety. In the Ombudsman's view, the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in late 2009 and the extension of the right of public access to documents to all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (Article 15 TFEU) that it provides for reinforces this understanding. The Ombudsman congratulates Eurofound on its website, which is user-friendly, easy to navigate and informative. Eurofound provides the public with a vast amount of information mainly relating to its core activities, as well as some information regarding financial and organisational matters. Eurofound has adopted a very proactive approach to the dissemination of information and should be applauded in that respect. The Ombudsman also welcomes Eurofound's policy of making core information available in all official languages. He notes that it has dealt properly with all requests for documents it has received. He also notes that Eurofound has a public register of documents organised by functional area. This includes internal documents.

(C) Selection and recruitment

27. Eurofound has transparent recruitment procedures. The online recruitment page of the Agency's website contains detailed and helpful information on the recruitment process. All the names of recruited staff are publicly accessible on its website. As regards how recruitment is carried out, it is both courteous and service-minded to acknowledge receipt of applications and to inform candidates of the significant steps affecting their progress in a recruitment procedure[1]. In this regard, the Ombudsman welcomes Eurofound's policy to provide all candidates with information regarding the outcome of selection procedures. Candidates are also informed that they may submit a request for review to the relevant selection board, or lodge a complaint under the Staff Regulations. The Ombudsman notes Eurofound informs candidates of their right to complain to the European Ombudsman.

(D) Tenders

28. The Ombudsman welcomes Eurofound's policy of informing tenderers of all relevant information, either proactively or on request, in relation to the outcome of tenders. He also applauds the fact that, in addition to informing tenderers that they can seek judicial redress, unsuccessful tenderers are informed that they can seek redress from the Ombudsman.

(E) Conflicts of interest

29. The Ombudsman has stated on several occasions that EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies should do their utmost to avoid not only actual conflicts of interest, but also apparent conflicts of interest, in order to maintain public trust and confidence in its activities and to protect their staff from unjustified suspicion. The Ombudsman welcomes the fact the Eurofound has adopted a broad definition of the notion of conflict of interest, which includes the concept of apparent conflict. He also welcomes Eurofound's initiative to organise training sessions focused on issues such as outside activities, relating to conflicts of interest.

4. Concluding remarks

30. The European Ombudsman aims to be not only a form of external control, but also a resource to help those with management responsibilities in the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies to improve the quality of their administration and to build and maintain a culture of service to citizens. The Ombudsman considers that Eurofound has demonstrated that it already achieves high standards in terms of a culture of service. Accordingly, he encourages it to continue in its efforts in this regard. The Ombudsman and his staff are ready to give advice on request, within the limits of his competence and resources.

Conclusion

On the basis of his inquiry, the Ombudsman closes it with the following conclusion:

No further inquiries are justified.

Eurofound will be informed of this decision.

 

P. Nikiforos Diamandouros

Done in Strasbourg on 26 April 2013

[1] Decision closing the Ombudsman's inquiry into complaint 923/2009/(BB)FOR against FRONTEX.