Dear President Metsola,

Dear Members of the European Parliament,

Dear fellow ombudsmen and honoured guests,

Thank you for joining us to celebrate thirty years of the European Network of Ombudsmen – ENO – and to launch the report that tells the story of this remarkable journey.

A special welcome to all those who have travelled to Strasbourg from across Europe. Your presence reminds us of what this network truly is: not simply a structure on paper, but a community of people united by their shared commitment to public service and the rights of citizens.

I would also like to thank the European Parliament for its steadfast support of my Office and of ENO, including through the Petitions Committee, itself a valuable member of our network.

President Metsola, thank you for joining us here in Strasbourg, home to both the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman. It is fitting that we celebrate this anniversary here, in a place where the voices of citizens must be heard – where democracy is more than a principle, but a concrete reality. In every debate, in every vote, in every initiative like the one that gathers us today.

Allow me to say that my commitment to ENO is also a personal one. Before becoming European Ombudswoman, I served as Deputy Ombudsman of Portugal for 5 years.

Those years taught me how valuable it is to have colleagues across Europe to turn to: colleagues who can offer a fresh perspective, share their experience, and help find a solution. I have also seen how much we owe to those who have served our institutions over the years, particularly the former ombudsmen recognised in this report.

This is how a network becomes more than a forum for exchange. It becomes a source of strength in our daily work.

And it is this spirit of cooperation that gives today's anniversary report its real significance: it tells not only the story of thirty years of the network, but also the story of the people, shared experiences and collective commitment that have sustained it.

It is only right to acknowledge that this initiative came from Marta Hirsch, who has been – for a very long time – part of the Ombudsman’s ENO team and has given so much to our network.

Marta understood that thirty years of cooperation called for more than a celebration. They called for a record – of what we have learned, what we have achieved, and what we can continue to build together.

Marta, thank you for this initiative, and for your enduring commitment to ENO.

This report shows ENO’s tools in action. It shows what is possible when we support one another; when we cooperate across institutions and across borders; and when we stand in solidarity, ensuring that no one stands alone when speaking truth to power.

Our mandates differ, and over three decades, many have evolved. But one thing has never changed. As Jacob Söderman, the first European Ombudsman and founder of our network, put it, ENO was created to “make citizens’ rights under EU law a living reality at all levels within the Union and its Member States.”

That founding purpose runs through the pages of this report. It shows how EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights, has enabled ombudsmen across Europe to turn rights into reality and make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

My Office will continue to strengthen this network and the cooperation it makes possible, so that every ombudsman can draw on European expertise and support whenever it is needed.

Because the true value of this network lies in the difference it makes to people’s lives.

Think of a student moving to another country who needs health insurance. Or a non-EU family member of an EU citizen who is unsure of their right to stay.

These are real questions that colleagues have brought to my Office through the query procedure. By working with the EU administration, we help colleagues find the answers people need.

And sometimes, cooperation also goes further: we investigate together.

This year, we launched two new joint inquiries. One concerns the EU food safety alert system that protects consumers across Europe. The other, led by the Slovenian Ombudsman, examines how administrations are implementing EU climate law and protecting our right to a healthy environment.

Different issues, different challenges, but the same purpose: to make rights and protections work in practice.

The report also looks to the future.

It includes a new Code of Good Practice on the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, by ombuds institutions.

Technology should help us become more accessible, more responsive, and better able to serve. But these advances must never come at the expense of transparency, privacy, or equal treatment.

Our purpose must remain clear: to make it easier for people to reach us – not harder to understand us.

I am particularly grateful to the Czech, Estonian, and Finnish ombudsman offices for leading the drafting of this Code, and to everyone who contributed to its development.

Dear President Metsola,

Dear Members of the European Parliament,

Dear colleagues,

We live at a time when our greatest challenges do not stop at national borders.

A pandemic. A changing climate. Digital transformation. The movement of people. The spread of disinformation.

These challenges are also reflected in our daily work. Citizens’ rights increasingly depend on how national and European rules and administrations interact. Together, they form a common European space – one that offers enormous opportunities but can also be difficult to navigate.

And here lies a paradox. The system may be complex, but the problems people bring to us are often very simple.

A letter that went unanswered. A benefit that was refused. A decision that no one took the time to explain.

Our responsibility is to bridge that gap: to make the system understandable, accessible, and fair. People cannot fully exercise their rights or participate in the European project if they cannot understand how the system works, or if they feel excluded or discriminated against.

Our European identity is not sustained by institutions and rules alone. It also depends on people being able to participate, to be heard, and to feel that this common space belongs to them.

This is why cooperation between ombudsman institutions matters. By sharing our knowledge, experience, and perspectives, we can help people navigate the system more effectively, wherever their problems arise.

In doing so, we strengthen not only our institutions, but also the trust that holds our common European space together.

And this is where ENO makes a difference: by turning our shared commitment into practical cooperation.

For us, cooperation is not a formality. It is a responsibility. It means knowing whom to call when a difficult question arises. It means investigating together when an issue extends beyond one country. And it means helping people find their way to someone who can listen and act.

Amid distrust and instability, ombudsmen can be agents of hope.

Not a naïve hope. A hope grounded in experience: that a complaint can be heard; that a mistake can be corrected; that a public authority can say, “We got it wrong – and we will put it right.”

We are bridges between people and public institutions.

Through complaints, we see where the connection between them has weakened – and where it needs to be restored.

We offer people an independent place to turn. And we offer institutions something essential: an honest account of what has gone wrong, and an opportunity to put it right.

Our independence allows us to challenge. Our purpose is always to improve.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this report. It honours your work, the work of those who came before us, and the millions of Europeans who have placed their trust in their ombudsmen.

To every colleague in this room, and to the teams who could not be here: the work you do – often quietly, far from the headlines –  changes lives.

As ENO coordinator, I am proud to present this report to the European Parliament.

Today, we celebrate more than thirty years of a network. We renew a commitment: to listen, to stand up for people’s rights, and to help public institutions do better.

Let us carry that commitment into the next thirty years.

Happy anniversary, ENO!

And now, it is my great pleasure to give the floor to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.