The European Ombudsman

The position of European Ombudsman was created by the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht, 1992). An ombudsman is a civil servant who considers complaints from ordinary citizens against the public authorities. He is entitled to receive and investigate complaints from EU citizens, businesses and organsations, and from anyone residing or having their registered office in an EU country.

The Ombudsman is elected by the European Parliament for a renewable term of five years, which corresponds to Parliament's legislative term. Nikiforos Diamandouros, the former national ombudsman of Greece, took up the post of European Ombudsman in April 2003 and was re-elected in January 2005 for a five-year term.

He helps to uncover ‘maladministration’ in the European Union institutions and bodies. ‘Maladministration’ means poor or failed administration – in other words, when an institution fails to act in accordance with the law, or fails to respect the principles of good administration, or violates human rights. Some examples of unfairnessare:

• unfairness,
• discrimination,
• abuse of power,
• lack or refusal of information,
• unnecessary delay,
• incorrect procedures.

The Ombudsman carries out investigations following a complaint or on his own initiative. He operates completely independently and impartially. He does not request or accept instructions from any government or organisation.