The European Ombudsman – who, when and how can ONE apply?

ECOVIS Miškinis, Kvainauskas ir partneriai advokatų kontora

The ombudsman institute is derived from Sweden and nowadays is known in many European countries in different forms. Usually it means a public official that offers people an opportunity to have their complaints heard, evaluated and investigated by a neutral and independent body which offers recommendations to the involved parties. The European Ombudsman, as one of the European Union’s (EU) institutions, was established by the Maastricht Treaty and for the first time was elected by the European Parliament in 1995.

Every citizen, resident or company with a registered office in the European Union has a right to apply to the European Ombudsman with a complaint. The ombudsman investigates cases of maladministration (poor or failed administration) in the institutions and bodies of the European Union. The main institutions, among others, are the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. Only the Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance, and the Civil Service Tribunal acting in their judicial role do not fall within his jurisdiction.

The meaning of “maladministration” is evaluative, but mostly it occurs if an institution fails to act in accordance with the law, fails to respect the principles of good administration, or violates human rights, for example: administrative irregularities, unfairness, discrimination, abuse of power, failure to reply, refusal of information, unnecessary delay, etc. It is important that the competence of the European Ombudsman is limited to the EU institutions, and complaints cannot be investigated against national, regional or local authorities in the member states (even when the complaints are about EU matters), the activities of national courts or ombudsman, complaints against businesses or private individuals. However, even if a complaint is not acceptable, the European Ombudsman (with the complainant’s consent) transfers a complaint to a competent national or other institution.

The European Ombudsman institution is a convenient alternative to solve a dispute with an EU institution because of a simple application, hearing procedure (complaints can be lodged by post, fax or even by e-mail), it’s free and much faster. However, it should be mentioned that the European Ombudsman tries to solve the case satisfactorily, to find a friendly solution and makes recommendations, not legally binding and enforceable decisions as the courts do. If the institution does not accept his recommendations, he can make a special report to the European Parliament, thus, as practice shows, the European Ombudsman’s influence and effectiveness is more based on his reputation than on a formal obligation.