Watchdog’s legal chief in line for switch to Brussels

Date: 18/10/01

By Martin Banks

THE European Ombudsman plans to boost the size of his Brussels office to help improve his effectiveness in dealing with complaints about EU institutions.

Professor Ian Harden, head of Ombudsman Jacob Söderman's legal department, is pencilled to transfer to Belgium on 1 January.

His proposed move will increase the size of the Brussels office to five, although the majority of the watchdog's 28-strong team of lawyers and administrative staff will remain in Strasbourg.

There are no long-term plans to move wholesale to Brussels. Harden, 47, told European Voice the reasons for his planned move were two-fold. "The bulk of the complaints handled by the Ombudsman are European Commission-related so being in Brussels will, hopefully, enable us to be more effective in dealing with them. "Also, it also seems natural to have as large a presence in the city where the majority of crucial meetings, conferences and such like are held. We have always had a Brussels office but it has never really been fully integrated into our operation. Hopefully, that will now change," added Harden.

News of the proposed move comes as it was revealed that the number of complaints handled by the Ombudsman increased by 15 per cent in the first six months of this year. Between January and June, Söderman dealt with 947 cases compared with 822 in the same period in 2000. Söderman said the rise reflected growing public awareness about the watchdog's role.

The majority of complaints are made directly by the public and are about alleged maladministration by the Commission. Most cases concern lack or refusal of information, undue administrative delay, unfair recruitment procedures and delayed payment. The countries from which the majority of complaints are received are France, Spain, Germany and Italy. Since he started work in 1995, the Ombudsman has handled 8,677 complaints.

The European Ombudsman plans to boost the size of his Brussels office to help improve his effectiveness in dealing with complaints about EU institutions.