The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, will visit Finland during the coming days as part of his ongoing campaign to inform citizens of their rights and means of redress at the European level.

On 10 September, Mr Diamandouros will meet Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen to discuss the work of the Ombudsman and in particular the upcoming Inter-Governmental Conference, which will finalise the Constitution for Europe. On the same day, he will give a public lecture entitled "Citizens' rights, means of redress and the European Ombudsman" at the Centre for European Studies of the University of Helsinki. This is at the invitation of the Director of Research of the Centre, Teija Tiilikainen, who was the Finnish Prime Minister's representative in the Convention on the Future of Europe.

The European Ombudsman actively co-operates with ombudsmen and similar bodies throughout Europe in order to provide citizens with the best possible service when they need to make a complaint. In planning his visit, Mr Diamandouros has worked closely with both the Finnish Parliamentary Ombudsman, Riitta-Leena Paunio and the Finnish Chancellor of Justice, Paavo Nikula, both of whom he will be meeting during his visit in order to further develop co-operation. On 7 September, he will meet Jacob Söderman who served as the first European Ombudsman from 1995 to 2003.

During his visit, Mr Diamandouros will meet the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, Paavo Lipponen and the President of the Supreme Court of Finland, Leif Sevón. On 8 September, he will discuss his work with Finnish MEPs during a meeting hosted by the Head of the European Parliament Information Office in Finland, Renny Jokelin.

The European Ombudsman will hold a press conference on Tuesday 9 September, which will be chaired by the Head of the European Commission Representation in Finland, Timo Mäkelä.

 

For further information, please call Ben Hagard, Communications Officer, tel. +33 6 14 56 04 46.