European Ombudsman – Here to help

The European Ombudsman can help people, businesses or organisations that face problems with the EU’s administration. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration by EU institutions and bodies, as well as proactively looking into broader systemic issues.

Transcript of this video

This short video gives a visual representation of the European Ombudsman's work in three core areas: transparency, good management of EU funds, and public involvement in EU decision making and shows how the Ombudsman can help people encountering problems related to these areas.

In the first scenario, a journalist is checking documents she has received after an access to document request and finds a document with most of the text redacted. In the second scenario, a researcher working on an EU-funded project checks the association’s bank account and is frustrated to find that a payment from an EU institution has been delayed. In the last scene, a representative from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) is supposed to attend a decision-making meeting on EU policy, but cannot find the door to the meeting room.

Suddenly, the logo of the European Ombudsman appears in front of the three characters in the different scenarios. They each press the logo as if it were a button and find that their problems have been solved. The text in the document is no longer redacted, the payment arrives in the bank account, and the door to the meeting room appears.

The video ends with the European Ombudsman logo and the statement: “Problems with the EU administration? The European Ombudsman is here to help”.