| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 14.04.02 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 14/04/2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On 8 April the European Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, presented his 2001 Annual Report to the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions. The report reveals that 2001 was the Ombudsman's busiest so far, with 1874 complaints received - the large majority made against the European Commission. Mr Söderman took the opportunity to highlight what he considers to be two main achievements made for citizens during 2001: the adoption of new rules on access to documents (Regulation 1049/2001) and of a European Code of Good Administrative Behaviour. However, he also expressed disappointment at both the Commission's refusal to propose a European administrative law (as requested by Parliament) and at the 'leisurely attitude' of the EU institutions towards implementing the Charter of Fundamental Rights: 'Much to my regret, I have now to state that ... the institutions that proclaimed the Charter have not yet shown themselves to be serious about applying it in practice.' Background The European Ombudsman (formally the 'Ombudsman of the European Union') was appointed by the European Parliament in July 1995. His role is to investigate complaints about 'maladministration' by the institutions and bodies of the European Community. Although 'maladministration' is not defined in the Treaty on European Union or in the Statute establishing the post of European Ombudsman, the term is taken to mean poor or failed administration. Examples include:
Complaints to the Ombudsman can be made by any citizen of an EU Member State, by anyone living in a Member State, and by businesses, associations or other bodies with a registered office in the EU. A complaint must be made within two years of the date when the relevant facts were known, and the Community institution or body concerned must have been contacted. A complainant need not be individually affected by the alleged maladministration. The Ombudsman is not empowered to deal with complaints against international organisations or against national, regional or local authorities in the Member States (even when they are responsible for implementing Community law or policies). Neither can the Ombudsman deal with cases which have been settled by - or are before - the Court of Justice or Court of First Instance. The Ombudsman's powers of enforcement are limited to ensuring that a 'friendly settlement' is reached between the parties concerned in a complaint; if no agreement can be reached, the Ombudsman is limited to making reports and recommendations. He cannot make a Community institution or body alter a decision or give redress, even if a complaint is found to be justified. When conducting an inquiry the Ombudsman has wide powers, and must be given access to any information which he requests from the Community institutions or bodies or from Member States (where such information is relevant to alleged maladministration by Community institutions or bodies). Access can be refused only on grounds of secrecy. In cases where the information requested is not made available, the Ombudsman can enlist the aid of the European Parliament to make 'appropriate representations'. The 2001 Annual Report (At the time of writing, the full version of the 2001 Annual Report was not available on the internet; the following is based on press releases and speeches. The Report is expected to be available shortly on the Ombudsman's website). During 2001 the European Ombudsman received 1874 new complaints (up by 8% over the previous year), making it the busiest year yet since his office opened in September 1995. Of those complaints, 313 were admissible, leading the Ombudsman to open 204 inquiries plus four own-initiative inquiries. The most common causes of complaints were lack of information or refusal to provide it, avoidable delays, procedural errors, abuse of power, and problems with tenders / contracts concerning the Community institutions. Complaints received by e-mail continued to increase (34% compared to 24% in 2000), largely due to a new online complaint form being introduced in April 2001. In 2001 the average length of time taken to complete an inquiry was 289 days (316 days in 2000). Two special reports were presented to the European Parliament - one concerning sex discrimination in the Commission, the other on access to Council documents. Table 1: comparisons between 2001, 2000 and 1996 (where available)
Table 2: number of complaints received, by country
Presenting the Annual Report to the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions, Mr Söderman stressed that data protection rules are not intended to restrict information available to citizens about public activities, and criticised the institutions' attitudes to openness:
Mr Söderman also spoke about the Charter of Fundamental Rights proclaimed at the Nice European Council in December 2000. He was critical of the apparent gap between the positive public statements made at the time by Commission President Romano Prodi, Commissioner Vitorino and the President of the European Parliament (at that time Mrs Fontaine) and the 'lukewarm' way in which the Charter is treated within the institutions on a practical basis:
In the context of the recently-published Code of Good Administrative Behaviour, the Ombudsman also expressed his hope that Parliament 'takes steps to achieve the ultimate goal, which is a modern EU law on good administration based on the existing Code.' There is an existing agreement between the Ombudsman and Parliament's Committee on Petitions concerning the mutual transfer of complaints and petitions. In his speech on 8 April, Mr Söderman suggested that closer co-operation be established in a number of areas, including a joint information policy. Contact details The European Ombudsman Further information within European Sources Online:
Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'ombudsman' in the keyword field. Further information can be seen in these external links: Eric Davies On 8 April the European Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, presented his 2001 Annual Report to the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions. |
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