During its plenary session of 11 January 2005, the European Parliament voted to re-elect Nikiforos Diamandouros as European Ombudsman with 564 out of a total of 643 votes cast.
Mr Diamandouros has served as European Ombudsman since January 2003, following the retirement of the Union’s first Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman and his new mandate will run until 2009.
The European Ombudsman is empowered to receive complaints from any citizen of the Union or any natural or legal person residing in a Member State concerning instances of maladministration in the activities of the Community institutions or bodies (with the exception of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance).
Where the Ombudsman establishes an instance of maladministration he conducts an investigation, seeks a solution to redress the problem and, if necessary, submits draft recommendations to which the institution concerned is required to reply within three months.
He submits a report to the European Parliament at the end of each annual session.
Mr Diamandouros’s priorities over the coming five years are to:
ensure that citizens’ rights under EU law are respected at every level in the Union,
make certain that, in everything they do, the EU institutions and bodies conform to the highest standards of administration,
guarantee that his institution serves the citizen in the most efficient and effective way possible.
Related documents:
European Ombudsman press release (11 January 2005)
Mr Diamandouros’s statement to the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions
