In brief...
- receive and handle complaints of cases of maladministration
- 5 years
- Strasbourg
- Nikiforos Diamandouros
The logo of the European Ombudsman
Created in 1992 by the Maastricht Treaty, the Ombudsman acts as an intermediary between the European citizens and authorities.
Elected every 5 years by the European Parliament, the Ombudsman performs his duties with full autonomy. He does not request or accept instruction from any government, institution, body or organisation. Furthermore, his mandate is not compatible with any other professional activity, whether remunerated or not.
The role of the Ombudsman
He investigates cases of maladministration in the institutions, bodies or other organisations of the Union, including the European agencies (with the exception of the Court of Justice in the exercising of its duties).
The Ombudsman may open enquiries on his own initiative or following a complaint(unless the facts put forward are, or have already been, the subject of legal proceedings).
All citizens of the Union and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State can make a complaint to the European Ombudsman. If the Ombudsman finds that there has been maladministration, he refers to the institution, body or organisation concerned which has 3 months within which to present its opinion. The Ombudsman then submits his report to the Parliament and to the institution concerned. The complainant is informed of the result of these enquiries.
The Ombudsman submits an annual report on the results of his enquiries to the European Parliament.
In practice
The European Ombudsman's interactive guide explains how to request information and the conditions of admissibility of a complaint.
In many cases the institution, organisation or body called into question by a complaint follows the recommendations of the Ombudsman. One example among others: The European Communities Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) has agreed to disclose to candidates, on request, the assessment criteria used in the selection procedures, as well as the details of their scores. It agreed to communicate this information following an own-initiative enquiry carried out by the Ombudsman, who asked the EPSO to adopt a more transparent approach.