The European Ombudsman’s new mandate - What to expect

Following his re-election as European Ombudsman by the European Parliament on 20 January 2010, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros announced the following as his priorities for the next five years:

 To ensure that citizens profit fully from the Treaty of Lisbon and the Charter of Fundamental Rights;
 To strengthen a "culture of service" to citizens within the EU administration;
 To further improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Ombudsman’s office.

Civil society organisations, enterprises, and EU officials met to discuss the Ombudsman`s new mandate. Mr. Diamandouros highlighted that with the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, he has the authority to investigate complaints about maladministration in all the institutions and bodies of the European Union. He said: "The entering into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and the legally binding nature of the Charter of Fundamental Rights mark a crucial stage in the long process of empowering European citizens and other stakeholders. The Charter in particular gives a strong signal regarding the importance the Union attaches to citizens’ rights." The Lisbon Treaty also creates the possibility for the ’’Citizens’ Initiative", which enables one million Europeans to ask the Commission to present draft legislation on a policy area.

He also explained the importance of Article 42 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights to the Ombudsman’s work. It provides that citizens should have the right to access documents of all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. For the first time citizens also have the right to access documents from the European Council, which is now an institution.

He said he would prioritise building trust through dialogue and promoting transparency within EU Institutions. Commenting on the issue, he said: "It is crucial for citizens, NGOs and other organisations to know where to turn if they encounter problems with the application of EU law, be it on regional, national or European levels, and therefore I am keen to increase cooperation with other information solving mechanisms, such as Eurodirect, SOLVIT and the European Network of Ombudsmen."

Commissioner of Interinstitutional Relations and Administration Maros Šefčovič was the next speaker. He emphasised the fact that around 60% of complaints declared admissible by the European Ombudsman have been addressed to the European Commission. Some areas the Commissioner identified for collaboration with the Ombudsman were related to staff matters, late payments by the Commission, transparency, negotiations on Regulation 1049/2001 relating to access to EU documents and the European Citizens’ Initiative.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU states that every European citizen has the right to good administration. For the Commission, the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon presents new challenges in organisational and staff matters. Mr. Šefčovič said the Commission would ensure that it attracts, trains and retains highly skilled and motivated staff in order ensure efficiency and respond properly to citizens’ needs.

He also highlighted the work the Commission has undertaken to improve transparency. He stated that he intends to take forward the "European Transparency Initiative" within the Commission. The Commission has set up a new framework for relations with interest representatives. This includes a voluntary register and a code of conduct and is linked to a mechanism to monitor complaints and sanctions. The next step is to achieve a common register, between the Parliament and Commission.

Additionally, he stressed that under Regulation 1049/2001 on public access to documents, the number of requests has increased every year, and the Commission grants access in most cases.

The Commission will tackle the issue of late payments and the Commissioner said that the Commission, "fully appreciates that this issue is crucial for beneficiaries of EU funds, like SMEs, NGOs and companies, especially in the current economic climate." This is one area where the Commission has improved. During the 2005-2007 period, the Commission cut late payments in half and this trend stayed the same in 2008. In 2009, the Commission presented a proposal setting tighter targets for faster payments of EU grants and contracts. The purpose of the proposal was to step up ongoing efforts and speed up cash flow to beneficiaries.

Pat Cox, former President of the European Parliament, welcomed the re-election of Mr. Diamandouros and highlighted its legitimacy, as he had competitors to his position. Even while being questioned and approved by MEPs during his re-election, Mr. Diamandouros criticised MEPs for a lack of transparency in making their expenses public. Additionally, as the Commission has increased in size with the extension of the EU, it has a larger capacity to increase its presence and spread its messages outside of Brussels. Mr. Diamandouros was commended for his prudent use of his "Right to own Initiative," which is having a positive effect to persuade the political system in a the right direction. "Moral persuasion is the power of your office," Mr. Cox exclaimed as he urged the Ombudsman to be vigilant and continue with his work.

Questions from participants:

The first question came from Jan Haverkamp, Policy Advisor on Nuclear and subsidies at Green Peace, who asked what the Ombudsman plans to do when cases of maladministration occur in a body that is outside the Treaty of the EU. For example, EURATOM, which does not make all of its documents public.

David Pryce from the Schuman project asked if the Oumbudsman planned to tackle the politicisation of the appointment of the college of Commissioners. No one from the non-political public proposed a member of the Commission. Commissioners-designate are then questioned by MEPs with a political affiliation. In the beginning nearly all its members of the Commission were free from party political membership. He views this as a problem as only 2% of EU Citizens are party card holders.

Mr. Diamandouros took the floor to answer questions. On the first question of EURATOM, the Oumbudsman said it fell outside of his mandate, and that he does not have authority to bring a complaint against EURATOM. However, whenever the Ombudsman receives a complaint he will go to the limit the law allows. He highlighted that he has the possibility to follow the example of the US Senate in advice and consent and informally give advice. Mr. Diamandouro applauded the European Parliament for scrutinising the Commissioners-designate and does not see a way of intervening, as this is the Parliament’s right and power.

Pat Cox highlighted the role of civil society in engaging EU citizens with EU Institutions. Quoting Vittorio Emanuele II, Mr. Cox said Europe is made, now we have to make Europeans. According to a recent Eurobarometer study, only 40% of EU Citizens feel informed about what is happening in the European Union. Mr. Cox called for EU officials to engage in learning about deliberate democracy and to work harder at outreach.

Stakeholder input

Paul de Clerck, Head, Economic Justice Programme, Friends of the Earth Europe was the first stakeholder who presented. Friends of the Earth works with ALTEREU. First, Mr. De Clerck highlighted the fact that not only can the Ombudsman bring a complaint but he has the "right of own initiative," which is a powerful tool. Mr. de Clerck pointed out the need to restore trust in the EU Institutions. 76% of EU citizens believe there is corruption within the institutions of the European Union. Mr. De Clerck presented three areas where the Ombudsman can play an active rule.

The first area is access to documents. EC Regulation 1049 allows for access to documents, however EU Citizens experience problems accessing documents. For an example, he cited his organisations results when enquiring into the composition of expert groups in the Commission. 34% of the time, they received no answer and 34% of answers received were partial. Another example is the Porsche letters. The Ombudsman agreed that there was no reason to withhold the documents, yet the Commission continued to withhold them. The Ombudsman even went to the Parliament for support. The documents were finally given to Friends of the Earth, but 1/3 of the text had been left out. Mr. De Clerck invited the Ombudsman to launch an investigation into how the Commission handles providing access to certain documents.

The second area the Ombudsman can play a role in is conflicts of interest. EU officials receive hospitality and gifts, and after done working for an EU Institution, sometimes they become lobbyists. The Commission has recently changed its staff regulations after the Ombudsman received a complaint on this issue, and Mr. De Clerck urged the Ombudsman to continue his work in this area. The third area Mr. de Clerck highlighted was the structure of Advisory groups to the Commission, his organisation had found that 40 Expert Groups business representatives were overly represented.

Andrea Benassi, Secretary General, UEAPME ("The voice of SMEs in Europe") highlighted maladministration issues thatSmall and Medium Enterprises face, such as contractual disputes, problems with calls for tender, refusal of access to documents, and late payments. Mr. Benassi also emphasised these problems can cause small businesses to loose clients or not be able to pay their staff, which is particularly damaging to small businesses who face competition from big industries. More than 20% of the complaints to the Omsbudman come from small businesses. Mr. Benassi called for more transparency of the procedures from the Commission’s side regarding the basis upon decisions are taken. He stressed a lack of consistency in EU Enterprise policy as well as the importance of impact assessments when creating policies.

The event was chaired by Brigitte Alfter, Director, European Fund for Investigative Journalism in Copenhagen. Ms. Alfter highlighted her experience as a journalist in Brussels pushing for transparency and access to information. At first, this was something viewed as aggressive for a journalist. There has been much improvement, but the push for transparency cannot stop, or the situation risks reverting. Ms. Alfter also shared the experiences Danish politicians had, that is once decision-makers stopped fighting over access of documents, they were able to focus on their content.

In his closing statement, Mr. Diamandouros said he would not shy away from issues, and that he would ask difficult questions in pursuit of fairness. Moreover, he promised not to simply denounce problems but to find solutions, while engaging the Institutions in dialogue. He identified two areas of priority for his work in the next five years, the implementation of EU law and impact assessment. Implementing community law will be the future of the European Union and impact assessment is where the citizen is directly affected. Mr. Diamduorus also made a commitment to make his office known. During the past seven years, he has been to all 27 member states and visited schools, universities, and community centres talking about his work.

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