this publication in PDF format

What can
the European
Ombudsman
do for you?
An overview of the Ombudsman’s work
and how he could help you
en
What can
the European
Ombudsman
do for you?
An overview of the Ombudsman’s work
and how he could help you
www.ombudsman.europa.eu
© European Communities, 2008
All rights reserved.
Reproduction for educational and non-commercial purposes is permitted provided the source is
acknowledged.
Published in all the of¿cial languages of the European Union: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch,
English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian,
Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish.
This publication is available free of charge from EU Bookshop.
Please visit: http://bookshop.europa.eu
ISBN 92-9212-034-4
DOI 10.2869/42796
Printed in Belgium
PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER
Photographs:
© European Communities, 2008
European Parliament building, pages 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10: Architect: ARCHITECTURE-STUDIO
Sculpture by Salvatore Fiume, front cover and pages 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24
European Àags, pages 26, 28, 30, 32
Mr Diamandouros, page 4
All other photographs: © www.iStockphoto.com
2
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
Contents
Foreword
4
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
6
What are the main issues the Ombudsman deals with?
11
b Refusal of access to documents and information
b Contractual disputes, problems with calls for tender, late payment
b Failure to respect fundamental rights
b Complaints about the handling of infringement cases
b Grievances related to recruitment procedures
b Staff complaints
What is good administration?
25
What has the Ombudsman achieved so far?
27
Who else could help you?
31
3
As European Ombudsman, I am very keen to
ensure that citizens, businesses, organisations
and public authorities are aware of their right
to complain about maladministration in the
institutions and bodies of the European Union.
This booklet gives an overview of the European
Ombudsman’s role in combating maladministration and of the service we can provide to
you. It is important that problems are brought
to our attention so that we can work with the
institutions to make for a better EU administration for all.
Since the Ombudsman began work in
September 1995, the institution has dealt with
over 25 000 complaints and carried out more
than 3 000 inquiries into maladministration in
the EU institutions and bodies. Our inquiries
have helped highlight inef¿cient procedures,
out-dated methods and discriminatory practices in the EU administration. In response, the
institutions and bodies have taken steps to
address these shortcomings. In fact, one of the
4
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
Foreword
main achievements my predecessor cited upon
leaving of¿ce in 2003 was the degree to which
the institutions and bodies were willing to work
with the Ombudsman to resolve problems. The
¿rst European Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman,
secured important victories for the citizen in
areas such as access to information, equal
treatment, and promoting the fundamental right
to good administration. This booklet focuses
on how we have built on these achievements.
A lot of the cases highlighted in this booklet pertain to problems with the European
Commission. This is because the Commission
is the institution with which the public has most
direct contacts. It is therefore particularly important that the Commission take a leading role in
developing a culture of service to citizens and
of respect for their rights. My experience tells
me that the Commission is willing to do so.
ensure a top class EU administration. Much
remains to be done but I am sure that the
EU institutions and bodies will continue to
improve their performance so as to make the
fundamental right to good administration – as
laid down in Article 41 of the EU Charter of
Fundamental Rights – a reality.
P. Nikiforos Diamandouros
I look forward to continuing to work closely
with all of the EU institutions and bodies to
5
What does the
European Ombudsman do?
The European Ombudsman investigates
complaints about maladministration in the
institutions and bodies of the European Union
(EU). The Ombudsman can also launch inquiries on his own initiative. The Ombudsman is
completely independent and impartial.
What does the
European Ombudsman not do?
The Ombudsman cannot investigate:
b complaints against national, regional or
local authorities in the Member States,
even when the complaints are about EU
matters. Examples of such authorities are
government departments, state agencies
and local councils;
b the activities of national courts or ombudsmen. The European Ombudsman is not
an appeals body for decisions taken by
these entities;
b complaints against businesses or private
individuals.
6
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
Who is the Ombudsman?
The European Ombudsman is P. Nikiforos
Diamandouros, former national ombudsman
of Greece. He was elected by the European
Parliament and has held office since 1 April
2003. The Parliament elected the ¿rst European
Ombudsman in 1995.
What can
the European
Ombudsman
do for you?
What can you complain about?
Who can complain?
You can complain to the Ombudsman about
maladministration in the activities of the EU
institutions and bodies.
If you are a citizen of a Member State of
the Union or reside in a Member State,
you can make a complaint to the European
Ombudsman. Businesses, associations or
other bodies with a registered office in the
Union may also complain to the Ombudsman.
Maladministration means poor or failed administration. This occurs if an institution fails
to act in accordance with the law, fails to respect the principles of good administration, or
violates human rights. Some examples are:
b administrative irregularities
b unfairness
b discrimination
b abuse of power
b failure to reply
b refusal of information
b unnecessary delay
7
Whom can you complain about?
b European Central Bank
The European Ombudsman investigates complaints against the institutions and bodies of
the European Union (EU).
b European Personnel Selection Of¿ce
(EPSO)
b European Anti-Fraud Of¿ce (OLAF)
The institutions and bodies of the EU include
the:
b European Parliament
b Council of the European Union
b European Commission
b Court of Justice of the European
Communities (except in its judicial role)
b European Police Of¿ce (Europol)
b Decentralised agencies
(such as the European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training,
the European Environment Agency, the
Of¿ce for Harmonisation in the Internal
Market, etc.)
Please note that this list is not exhaustive.
b European Court of Auditors
b European Economic and Social
Committee
b Committee of the Regions of the
European Union
b European Investment Bank
8
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
An overview of the EU institutions and bodies
is available on the Europa website:
http://europa.eu
What can
the European
Ombudsman
do for you?
What if the Ombudsman cannot
investigate your complaint?
If the European Ombudsman is not able to
investigate your complaint – for example, if it
concerns national, regional or local administrations in the Member States – he will do his best
to advise you of another body that could help.
The “Who else could help you?” section of this
booklet gives an overview of other bodies that
could help you.
How long do you have to wait?
To set a good example of public service, the
Ombudsman deals with complaints as quickly
as possible. He aims to:
1. acknowledge the receipt of complaints
within one week;
2. decide on whether to open an inquiry within one month;
3. complete inquiries within one year.
What outcome can you expect?
The Ombudsman may simply need to inform
the institution concerned about a complaint in
order for it to resolve the problem. If the case
is not resolved satisfactorily during the course
of his inquiries, the Ombudsman will try, if possible, to ¿nd a friendly solution which puts right
the case of maladministration and satis¿es the
complainant. If the attempt at conciliation fails,
the Ombudsman can make recommendations
to solve the case. If the institution does not
accept his recommendations, he can make a
special report to the European Parliament.
More complicated inquiries may last longer,
while relatively straightforward cases can often
be settled quickly.
9
What can
the European
Ombudsman
do for you?
So, how can you complain?
Write to the Ombudsman in any of the Treaty
languages1, setting out clearly who you are,
which EU institution or body you are complaining against and the grounds for your
complaint.
b A complaint must be made within two
years of the date when you became
aware of the facts on which your complaint is based.
b You need not be individually affected by
the maladministration.
b You must already have contacted the
institution or body concerned about the
matter, for example by a letter.
b The Ombudsman does not deal with matters that are currently before a court or
that have already been settled by a court.
You can lodge your complaint by post, fax
or e-mail. To ensure that you provide all the
necessary information, you may prefer to ¿ll
out a complaint form.
Our complaint form can be found in the
middle of this publication.
Just ¿ll it out and return it to:
The European Ombudsman
1, avenue du Président Robert Schuman
CS 30403
FR-67001 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Tel. (33) 388 17 23 13
Fax (33) 388 17 90 62
E-mail: [email protected]
You can also download our complaint form
from our web site:
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu
1
As of January 2007, there are 23 Treaty languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish,
French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian,
Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish.
10
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
This section gives an overview of the main areas in which the Ombudsman is called
upon to intervene. It explains some of the results he has obtained by providing
illustrative examples of his case work, which describe in concrete terms what the
Ombudsman can achieve through his inquiries.
11
Refusal of access
to documents and information
The Treaty on European Union states that:
“... decisions [in the Union] are taken as openly
as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen”. The Ombudsman works hard to hold the
EU institutions and bodies to this commitment.
Around one quarter of the inquiries the
Ombudsman carries out every year concern lack or refusal of information.
b The Ombudsman submitted a special
report to the European Parliament after
the Council of the EU failed to give valid
reasons for refusing to meet in public
whenever it is acting in its legislative
capacity. The Ombudsman’s inquiry followed a complaint from a German MEP,
who argued that the Council and the
other Community institutions and bodies
must take decisions as openly as possible. In April 2006, Parliament supported
the Ombudsman’s call for more transparency, and, two months later, the EU
Heads of State and Government agreed
to open more legislative debates to
the public.
12
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
In 2001, the European Parliament and the
Council adopted rules on public access to
documents of the Parliament, Council and
Commission. The Ombudsman’s inquiries
into public access also led to the adoption
and publication of rules on access to documents of most other EU institutions and bodies. The Ombudsman supervises compliance
with these rules, ensuring that any exceptions
to the right of access are interpreted narrowly
and that the institutions and bodies adhere
to the principle of openness. Alongside the
courts, the Ombudsman provides an effective
remedy for European citizens who have been
refused information.
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
b After the Ombudsman intervened, the
European Commission released two letters it had sent to the UK authorities in
the framework of an infringement procedure. It also released the UK’s response
and apologised for the undue delay in
handling the application for these documents. Following further inquiries by
the Ombudsman, the Commission also
agreed to give the complainants access
to three CD-ROMs containing the information the UK authorities had sent to the
Commission to support their case. The
infringement procedure concerned the
UK authorities’ alleged failure to follow
EU law regarding a large land¿ll site near
the complainants’ homes.
b The European Investment Bank (EIB)
gave partial public access to an audit
report, after a complaint was made to
the Ombudsman. In addition, it agreed
to give the relevant company private
access to sections of the report that
speci¿cally concerned the group of which
it was part. The report concerned an EUfunded project in Africa in which the company’s group had participated. The EIB
had initially refused access to the report.
b After the Ombudsman carried out an
inquiry, OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud
Of¿ce, gave three documents to a complainant and explained that the other documents she had requested did not exist. The
complainant, an EU of¿cial who had been
working for the Institute for Transuranium
Elements (ITU) in Karlsruhe, requested
the documents as part of the inquiry into
her allegations of severe irregularities in
the work of the ITU.
13
disputes,
problems with calls for tender,
late payment
Contractual
The Ombudsman deals with many contractual disputes concerning both the process of
award and subsequent performance and payment. When the Ombudsman brings a problem to the attention of the EU institutions and
bodies, they work constructively to put things
right, often agreeing to pay compensation or
interest if appropriate.
Respect for contractual obligations
When a citizen, business or association signs
a contract with one of the EU institutions, it
expects the administration to respect its obligations. Views often differ, however, as to what
exactly was agreed upon. The Ombudsman is
always careful to ensure that the EU institutions respect what they signed up to.
14
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
b The European Commission agreed to
pay compensation of EUR 56 000 to a
journalist. This was the biggest compensation payment ever resulting from a
complaint to the Ombudsman. It followed
his ¿nding that the Commission had
failed to respect the complainant’s reasonable expectations. The Commission
had cancelled its ¿nancial contribution to
the complainant’s project shortly before
the event in question was due to take
place.
b Following the Ombudsman’s intervention,
the Commission settled a dispute over
a grant given to an association based
in France. The Commission agreed to
reopen the case and to take into account
additional documentation forwarded by
the complainant. As a result, it reduced
by almost EUR 8 000 its request for
reimbursement from the association.
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
b The Commission granted compensation
of EUR 21 000, on an ex gratia basis, to a
small UK company after the Ombudsman
found that it had given the company insuf¿cient time to prepare a proposal in the
framework of a research and development
contract. This ultimately led to the proposal
being deemed ineligible due to an error
it contained. The Commission stressed
that it was anxious not to harm small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and
acknowledged that exceptional circumstances had made it dif¿cult for the complainant to execute the contract correctly.
The Commission announced its willingness to increase the use of alternative
methods of dispute resolution (ADR),
such as mediation, in the contracts it
¿nances. This followed an inquiry by the
Ombudsman into how the Commission
could promote amicable solutions in
disputes with contractors, or in disputes
between contractors and sub-contractors,
especially through mediation. Mediation
is a non-binding dispute resolution process in which an independent third party
assists the parties to settle their differences. Unlike the Ombudsman, a mediator does not decide on the merits of
the dispute.
15
Correct tender procedures
Most grants and subsidies made available by
EU institutions and bodies are awarded following calls for tender. These procedures
can be long and complex and can lead to
disappointment and frustration on the part of
the tenderers, if they feel they have not been
treated properly. The Ombudsman has helped
resolve many disputes in this area.
b The Commission acted rapidly and constructively to correct a mistake which
had led it to reject a pre-proposal from a
German consultant for missing the submission deadline. The pre-proposal was
selected and, after the Ombudsman’s
intervention, the complainant was granted
the same number of days as other candidates to prepare his full proposal.
16
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
b The Ombudsman suggested that the
Commission review its internal rules on
telephone logs in the framework of calls
for tender. This followed his inquiry into
the propriety of a telephone conversation that had taken place between the
Commission services and the complainant’s rival bidder. The Ombudsman
found no evidence of impropriety but
noted that it would have been easier for
the Commission to deal with the complainant’s concerns, if it had been able to
produce a written record concerning the
telephone conversation in question.
The European Ombudsman
Complaint about
maladministration
Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary and enclose all the documents necessary to support your complaint.
First name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Surname: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On behalf of (if applicable): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Address line 1: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Address line 2: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Town/City: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Postcode: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Country: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tel.: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fax: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E-mail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
No
No
No
I require that my complaint be treated con¿dentially
Please treat my complaint publicly
Please select one of the following two options after having read the information in the box below:
Yes (please specify)
Has the object of your complaint already been settled by a court or is it pending before a court?
Yes (please specify)
If the complaint concerns work relationships with the EU institutions and bodies: have you used all the possibilities
for internal administrative requests and complaints provided for in the Staff Regulations? If so, have the time limits for
replies by the institutions already expired?
Yes (please specify)
Have you already contacted the EU institution or body concerned in order to obtain redress?
What, in your view, should the institution or body do to put things right?
No
The European Ombudsman | 1 Avenue du Président Robert Schuman | CS 30403 | FR- 67001 Strasbourg Cedex | France
Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the
processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1).
1
Complaints to the Ombudsman may contain personal data relating to the complainant, or to a third party. The processing of personal data by the
European Ombudsman is governed by Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 1. Unless the complainant requests con¿dentiality, he or she is understood to
consent for the purposes of Article 5 (d) of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 to the Ombudsman dealing publicly with any personal data which the complaint
may contain.
A complainant has the right to request that his or her complaint be dealt with con¿dentially. If con¿dentiality is requested, there is no public access to the
complaint or to the other documents mentioned above. However, even a con¿dential complaint must be sent to the Union institution or body concerned,
if the Ombudsman begins an inquiry. The Ombudsman’s decisions on con¿dential complaints are published on his website, after the removal of any
information which could lead to the identi¿cation of the complainant. This information is also removed if the decision is published in full, or in summary
form, in a hard copy or electronic format.
‘Dealing publicly’ with a complaint means that any member of the public may have access to the complaint and its annexes. If the Ombudsman opens
an inquiry, the opinion of the institution or body concerned on the complaint, any observations on the opinion made by the complainant, as well as
other documents mentioned in Article 14 of the Implementing Provisions (available on the Ombudsman’s website) are public documents to which any
member of the public may have access on request. The Ombudsman’s decisions on complaints are published on his website with the complainant’s
name removed. Some are also published in full, or in summary form, in hard copy and electronic formats. These publications do not include the
complainant’s name or address.
Complaints to the European Ombudsman (and any annexed documents) are normally dealt with publicly.
Date and signature:
Yes
Do you agree that your complaint may be passed on to another institution or body (European or national), if the
European Ombudsman decides that he is not entitled to deal with it?
European Court of Auditors
Court of Justice of the European Communities *
European Commission
Council of the European Union
European Parliament
Other Union body (please specify)
European Police Of¿ce (Europol)
European Anti-Fraud Of¿ce (OLAF)
European Personnel Selection Of¿ce (EPSO)
European Central Bank
European Investment Bank
Against which European Union (EU) institution or body do you wish to complain?
European Economic and Social Committee
Committee of the Regions of the European Union
* Except in its judicial role.
What is the decision or matter about which you complain? When did you become aware of it?
What do you consider that the EU institution or body has done wrong?
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
An end to late payment
Delayed payment can be a problem for any
organisation but for SMEs it can be a matter
of survival or bankruptcy. The Ombudsman
has secured payment for lots of citizens, businesses and associations, whose grants, fees
and subsidies had not been paid on time.
b The Commission paid invoices totalling
over EUR 17 000 to a small German company, which turned to the Ombudsman
after it had sent the institution seven
reminders. The Commission explained
that the delay was due to technical
changes to budgetary procedures. It
announced that matters had been
reviewed and that similar problems
should not occur in the future. After the
Ombudsman pointed out that SMEs are
particularly vulnerable to the effects of
delays in payment, the Commission also
agreed to pay interest.
b The Commission settled a case of
late payment to a science journalist,
explained the reasons for the delay and
agreed to pay interest. It con¿rmed that
it had, in the meantime, taken measures
to accelerate payments to experts. The
complainant subsequently pointed out
that he had been paid within just 30 days
for services rendered under his latest
contract.
b A small company which participated in the
European “Galileo Project” complained
to the Ombudsman about the failure to
pay an outstanding sum of EUR 13 000.
After the Ombudsman’s intervention,
the Commission settled the amount and
promised to take the needs of SMEs into
account to a greater extent in future EU
projects.
17
Failure to respect
fundamental rights
The fundamental rights that you are entitled
to expect the EU institutions and bodies to
respect are laid down in the EU Charter of
Fundamental Rights.
Article 43 of the Charter contains the right
to complain to the European Ombudsman:
“Any citizen of the Union and any natural
or legal person residing or having its registered of¿ce in a Member State has the right
to refer to the European Ombudsman
cases of maladministration in the activities of the institutions, bodies, of¿ces or
agencies of the Union ...”
18
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
The Ombudsman has been active in ensuring
that the Charter is taken seriously by the EU
institutions, arguing that failure to respect the
Charter is maladministration. The Ombudsman
applies pressure so that the institutions prove
in practice that they respect the Charter in their
daily work and constantly reminds them of the
promises they made to European citizens.
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
b The Ombudsman carried out an inquiry to
investigate what measures the European
Commission had taken to ensure that
people with disabilities are not discriminated against in their relations with the
institution. The Ombudsman referred to
Article 26 of the Charter which recognises the right of people with disabilities to
bene¿t from supportive measures guaranteeing their independence, social and
occupational integration, and participation in the life of the community.
b The Commission abolished the age limit
of 30 years as one of the selection criteria
in its in-service traineeship programme.
This followed a complaint concerning
the rules governing the programme.
The Ombudsman concluded that the
Commission’s use of age limits amounted to discrimination, which is prohibited
under Article 21 of the Charter. It should
be noted that, as a result of pressure from
the Ombudsman, age limits do not apply
in recruitment competitions organised by
the European Personnel Selection Of¿ce.
19
Complaints about the
handling of infringement cases
The rule of law is one of the fundamental
principles the EU is based on. The European
Commission is responsible for ensuring that
Member States respect EU law. In carrying
out this task, it is known informally as “the
Guardian of the Treaty”. You can complain to
the Commission in cases where you believe
Member States infringe EU law.
The Ombudsman receives and deals with
complaints against the Commission concerning its handling of infringement complaints
(so-called Article 226 complaints). The result
of the Ombudsman’s work in this field has
been progress towards a more open and
complainant-friendly procedure. The most notable improvement came in 2002 in the form
of a Commission Communication setting out
the procedures and principles with which the
Commission undertakes to comply when handling infringement complaints. Nevertheless,
the Ombudsman continues to receive complaints about the Commission’s handling of
these cases, most notably alleging delay and
lack of due diligence.
20
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
b The Commission took a decision on
an infringement complaint after the
Ombudsman called on it to deal with the
case. He argued that the Commission’s
claim that it was unable to reach a
political consensus on how to proceed did
not relieve it of its duty to deal properly
with the complaint. A German provider of
sports betting services had complained
to the Commission after the German
authorities ordered him to stop offering
his services, thus forcing him to close
his business. In the complainant’s view
this constituted a violation of the freedom
to provide services.
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
b The Commission agreed to adopt a
decision on an infringement complaint
as quickly as possible after a Danish
car dealer turned to the Ombudsman
for help. The complainant alleged that
the Commission had failed to honour its
commitment to reach a conclusion on his
complaint concerning an infringement by
the Danish authorities of EU rules on the
taxation of imported cars.
The European Ombudsman is keen to
promote subsidiarity in remedies, in all
the areas where the Article 226 infringement procedure applies. In particular, he has worked hard to promote the
role of ombudsmen in supervising the
application of EU law. Ombudsmen in
the Member States can help resolve
problems that citizens encounter when
their national, regional or local administrations fail to apply EU law correctly.
Further information on this and other
non-judicial remedies can be found in
the section of this booklet entitled “Who
else could help you?”
21
Grievances related to
recruitment procedures
The ¿rst contact many people have with the
EU administration is in the ¿eld of recruitment. The EU’s staff recruitment procedures
have been a frequent source of complaints to
the Ombudsman. The fact that the European
Personnel Selection Of¿ce (EPSO) ranks
second among the EU institutions and bodies in terms of complaints to the European
Ombudsman testi¿es to this. Problems include
failure to provide adequate information and
allegations of discrimination.
The Ombudsman’s drive to increase transparency in recruitment has helped ensure that
you can have greater con¿dence in the procedures. As a result of his work, the reserve
lists of successful candidates are now pub-
22
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
lished and candidates can often see their own
marked examination scripts and ¿nd out who
sits on a Selection Board. Among the cases the
Ombudsman has resolved are the following:
b After the Ombudsman intervened, the
European Parliament explained to a
Spanish citizen why his application for
a traineeship had been rejected. With
a view to promoting higher standards
of administration, the Ombudsman
remarked that Parliament could consider
providing more speci¿c information on
the criteria by which traineeship applications are assessed. He also suggested
that Parliament consider revising its
rules to make clear that the list of names
of persons who accept the offer of a
traineeship will be a public document.
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
b The European Personnel Selection
Of¿ce agreed to clarify the information
it provides in its notices of recruitment
competitions concerning pre-selection
tests and eligibility. This followed a complaint from a Hungarian citizen who had
applied to take part in a competition for
assistant translators. The Ombudsman
felt that providing additional clari¿cations
would help avoid misunderstandings and
improve relations with candidates.
Following pressure from the Ombudsman, much has been done in recent years
to promote equal treatment in recruitment.
Progress in this area includes the abolition of age limits in open competitions and
moves to promote more balanced representation in terms of sex or ethnic origin,
for example.
b The Ombudsman criticised the European
Investment Bank (EIB) over correspondence it had with a citizen who had been
short-listed by the Bank in a recruitment procedure. In his complaint to the
Ombudsman, the citizen stated that an
EIB of¿cial had behaved in an abusive
and intimidatory way towards him in two
e-mails. The Ombudsman agreed that by
using terms which could be understood
as conveying a threat when answering
the complainant’s request for information
on his application, the Bank had failed
to respect the European Code of Good
Administrative Behaviour.
23
What are the
main issues
the Ombudsman
deals with?
Staff complaints
If you work for an EU institution or body, you
can complain to the Ombudsman about problems you encounter with your employer. These
can range from allegations of unfair dismissal
to claims for social security coverage for your
spouse. The Ombudsman has been successful in resolving many disputes that have been
brought to his attention. It is important to note
that you must exhaust all the possibilities for internal administrative requests and complaints
provided for in the Staff Regulations before a
complaint can be made to the Ombudsman in
this area. Staff members who prefer to have
their case reviewed judicially may prefer to
appeal to the EU Civil Service Tribunal.
b The Ombudsman settled a dispute
about pension entitlements involving a
Greek auxiliary agent and the European
Commission. The complainant claimed
that the Commission should recognise
that it was obliged to insure him under
a Belgian pension scheme for the
entire period that he had worked as an
auxiliary agent. The Commission accepted the Ombudsman’s arguments and
informed him that it had contacted the
Belgian authorities in order to regularise
the contributions for the entire period of
the complainant’s auxiliary contract.
24
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
b An expert employed by the Commission
resigned after becoming subject to
insults and threats in a non-EU country.
The Ombudsman closed the inquiry,
remarking that the Commission appeared
to have taken appropriate action to assist
the complainant. However, he pointed out
that it would have been conducive to better relations with the complainant for the
Commission to have explained earlier
what it had done to help him, rather than
giving the impression that it was mainly
concerned to show that the complainant
was the author of his own misfortune.
The Commission subsequently apologised and promised to take note of the
Ombudsman’s comments for the future.
What is good
administration?
The previous section focused on examples of
maladministration and how the Ombudsman
works to put things right. But he also acts
proactively in promoting good administration.
Article 41 of the EU Charter of Fundamental
Rights states that you have a fundamental right to good administration. The
Ombudsman proposed that this right be
included in the Charter, arguing that European
citizens are entitled to an open, accountable
and service-minded administration.
Right to good administration
Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights
1. Every person has the right to have his or her affairs handled impartially, fairly and within
a reasonable time by the institutions, bodies, of¿ces and agencies of the Union.
2. This right includes:
(a) the right of every person to be heard, before any individual measure which would
affect him or her adversely is taken;
(b) the right of every person to have access to his or her ¿le, while respecting the
legitimate interests of con¿dentiality and of professional and business secrecy;
(c) the obligation of the administration to give reasons for its decisions.
3. Every person has the right to have the Union make good any damage caused by its
institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties, in accordance with the
general principles common to the laws of the Member States.
4. Every person may write to the institutions of the Union in one of the languages of the
Treaties and must have an answer in the same language.
25
What is good
administration?
European Code of Good Administrative
Behaviour
How can I learn more
about my rights?
To clearly de¿ne what good administration
means in practice, the Ombudsman drafted
the European Code of Good Administrative
Behaviour. This tells you what you have the
right to expect from the EU administration and
gives guidance to of¿cials on how to behave
in dealing with the public. Of¿cials who follow
the Code can be sure that they will avoid instances of maladministration. The service that
you receive should improve as a result.
The Ombudsman is keen to inform citizens
and of¿cials about the Code so that both sides
know what their rights and obligations are.
He has published the Code on his website in
26 languages and as a user-friendly brochure
that is available from his of¿ce.
The European Parliament approved the
European Code of Good Administrative
Behaviour in September 2001. The
Ombudsman uses it when investigating
complaints made by citizens about the administration.
26
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
the
What has
Ombudsman
achieved so far?
Statistics concerning the work of the European Ombudsman
(From 1.4.2003, when the incumbent Ombudsman took up his post, to 31.12.2006.)
Complaints received (from within the EU): 12 058
Geographical origin of complaints:
Country
Luxembourg
Malta1
Cyprus1
Belgium
Slovenia1
Spain
Finland
Ireland
Greece
Portugal
Austria
Sweden
Czech Republic1
Poland1
The Netherlands
Slovakia1
Germany
Hungary1
France
Denmark
Lithuania1
Latvia1
Estonia1
Italy
United Kingdom
1
2
Number of
Complaints
146
116
170
924
140
2 257
257
189
444
398
269
244
252
872
367
122
1 745
207
1 258
95
51
35
20
831
649
% of
Complaints
1.2
1.0
1.4
7.7
1.2
18.7
2.1
1.6
3.7
3.3
2.2
2
2.1
7.2
3
1
14.5
1.7
10.4
0.8
0.4
0.3
0.2
6.9
5.4
% of the
EU Population
0.1
0.1
0.2
2.3
0.4
9.4
1.1
0.9
2.4
2.3
1.8
1.9
2.2
8.2
3.5
1.2
17.8
2.2
13.6
1.2
0.7
0.5
0.3
12.7
13
Ratio2
12.1
9.6
7
3.3
2.9
2
1.9
1.7
1.5
1.4
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.9
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.4
Joined the EU on 1.5.2004.
This ¿gure has been calculated by dividing the percentage of complaints by the percentage of population. Where it is
greater than 1, this indicates that the country in question submits more complaints to the Ombudsman than might be
expected given the size of its population. All percentages in the above table have been rounded to one decimal place.
27
Transfers and advice
7.37%
(In some cases, more than one advice can
be given)
b Advice to contact another ombudsman or
petition a regional or national parliament
(3 123)
37.65%
29.68%
b Advice to contact the European
Commission (1 240)
b Advice to petition the European
Parliament (600)
b Advice to contact SOLVIT (259)
b Advice to contact other bodies (2 462)
b Transfers (611)
Transfers:
To a national or regional ombudsman (522)
To the European Parliament (53)
To the European Commission (19)
To SOLVIT (14)
To other bodies (3)
28
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
3.12%
7.23%
14.95%
the
What has
Ombudsman
achieved so far?
Inquiries dealt with:
9.9%
1 266 inquiries, including 28 own-initiative
inquiries
3.2%
9.4%
About which institution?
(In some cases, two or more institutions or
bodies are concerned by one inquiry)
11.1%
b European Commission (853)
66.4%
b European Personnel Selection Of¿ce (143)
b European Parliament (121)
b Council of the European Union (41)
b Others (127)
About what?
63
64
108
160
(In some cases, two types of maladministration are alleged)
b Legal Error (4%)
161
b Failure to ensure ful¿lment of obligations Article 226 (4%)
171
b Negligence (7%)
175
b Procedural errors (10%)
252
b Other maladministration (10%)
b Avoidable delay (11%)
440
b Discrimination (11%)
b Unfairness, abuse of power (16%)
b Lack of transparency, including refusal of
information (28%)
29
the
What was the
What has
Ombudsman
achieved so far?
outcome?
934 inquiries were closed with a reasoned decision (An inquiry can be closed for one or more
of the following reasons)
11.2%
3.6%
3.0%
2.5%
39.0%
b No maladministration found (376)
b Settled by the institution (254)
12.5%
b Friendly solution (17)
b With a critical remark addressed to the
institution (120)
b Draft recommendations accepted by the
institution (24)
b Following a special report (29)
b Dropped by the complainant (35)
b Other (108)
30
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
1.8%
26.4%
Who else
could help you?
If the European Ombudsman is not able to investigate your complaint – for example, if it concerns national, regional or local administrations
in the Member States – he will do his best to
help you solve your problem. This may involve
transferring your complaint to a competent body
or advising you where to turn for a prompt and
effective resolution of your problem.
The European Network
of Ombudsmen
Very often the European Ombudsman will advise you to contact a member of the European
Network of Ombudsmen or will, with your consent, transfer your case to a member of the
Network. Established in 1996, the Network
comprises all national and regional ombudsmen in the EU Member States, the applicant
countries for EU membership, Norway and
Iceland, as well as committees on petitions in
the Member States of the EU.
Among the complainants that the European
Ombudsman has helped in this way are:
b A Polish citizen, disabled as a result of
a car accident, who alleged that the national social security institution had unfairly decided to suspend payment of his
bene¿ts. With the complainant's consent,
the case was transferred to the Polish
Ombudsman to be dealt with.
b Spanish citizens who called for action
at the EU and national levels to address
the problem of illegal immigration from
North Africa. As the issue fell outside
the European Ombudsman's mandate,
he advised the complainants to turn to
the Spanish Ombudsman regarding the
national authorities and to petition the
European Parliament, which has both
investigatory and legislative powers that
could be used in relation to this matter at
the EU level (see below).
To help explain the service they provide to
citizens, members of the European Network
of Ombudsmen adopted a statement in
2007 which is available on the European
Ombudsman’s website.
b A citizen who complained about the
French organisation which manages
unemployment insurance payments. With
the complainant's consent, the European
Ombudsman transferred the complaint
to the French Ombudsman who found a
solution to the problem.
31
A petition to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament deals with petitions
relating to matters which come within the EU’s
¿elds of activity. Petitions give the European
Parliament the opportunity of drawing attention to any infringement of a European citizen’s rights by a Member State, local authority
or other institution.
If appropriate, the Ombudsman may transfer
your complaint to the European Parliament
to be dealt with as a petition, as he did in the
following case:
b A complaint was made on behalf of two
Tanzanian citizens legally resident in
Belgium after they were denied entry to
the UK because they did not have a visa.
The complainant claimed that Belgian
residents who are non-European citizens
should be allowed to travel within the EU
without hindrance and that an EU body
should be established to facilitate travel
within the EU for people in possession of
an identity card of an EU Member State.
For more information on ¿ling a petition, please
visit:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/
peti_home_en.htm
32
What can the European Ombudsman do for you?
SOLVIT
SOLVIT is an on-line network in which EU
Member States work together to solve, within
ten weeks, problems caused by the misapplication of internal market law by public
authorities. SOLVIT deals, in principle, with any
cross-border problem between a business or a
citizen and a national public authority. SOLVIT
Centres are part of the national administrations of EU Member States. The European
Commission coordinates the network.
The European Ombudsman may advise you
to contact SOLVIT if the complaint does not
come within his mandate. For example:
b A citizen turned to the European
Ombudsman citing problems she had
experienced in trying to register under
the social security scheme in the
Netherlands. She was working for a company in Denmark but frequently worked
from her home in the Netherlands. She
alleged that the Danish authorities
refused to provide her with a form
required for her registration.
More information about SOLVIT is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/solvit
Who else
could help you?
An infringement complaint
to the European Commission
The Commission deals with complaints alleging infringements of Community law by EU
Member States. The Ombudsman may consider that your complaint could best be dealt with
in this way, as he did in the following instance:
b A German citizen working in Spain complained that the normal progressive rate
of income tax in Spain only applied to foreigners once they had worked in Spain
for at least 183 days. The complainant
alleged discrimination since the rate that
applied to him and to his German colleagues was 25 percent, whilst a tax rate
of 6 to 9 percent applied to his Spanish
colleagues. After examining the issue,
the European Commission agreed to
bring Spain before the European Court of
Justice on the grounds that the relevant
provisions could impair the free movement of workers.
Ask a question?
If you do not wish to lodge a complaint but
want a query concerning the EU answered,
you can free phone EUROPE DIRECT from
any of the Member States on:
Tel. 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11
(or the chargeable number (32-2) 299 96 96
from other countries or certain mobile operators)
or visit the EUROPE DIRECT website which is
available via Europa:
http://europa.eu
Additional information is available on the
Ombudsman’s website:
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu
For information on how to lodge such a complaint and in order to download a complaint
form, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/your_
rights/your_rights_forms_en.htm
33
QK-76-06-397-EN-C
The European Ombudsman investigates
complaints about maladministration in the
institutions and bodies of the European
Union. This booklet gives an overview of
the Ombudsman’s work and explains how
he could help you.
The European Ombudsman
1, avenue du Président Robert Schuman
CS 30403
FR-67001 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Tel. (33) 388 17 23 13
Fax (33) 388 17 90 62
[email protected]
www.ombudsman.europa.eu
The E
plaints