Ombudsman: One third of complaints concern lack of transparency in EU administration

At the end of April 2010, the European Ombudsman released his 2009 Annual Report. The Ombudsman used this as an opportunity to urge the EU administration to become more transparent and citizen-friendly. His Annual Report also found that over one third of complaints received by his office deal with a lack of transparency.


During the presentation of his 2009 Annual Report, European Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros called for more transparency within the EU, and for the EU administration to become more citizen-friendly. During the 2009 year, 36% of complaints that led to inquiries alleged a lack of transparency, including the refusal to release documents or information. Other types of complaints the Ombudsman dealth with related to maladministration were late payments for EU projects, unfairness, abuse of power and discrimination.

In 2009, the Ombudsman received 3,098 complaints, originating from citizens, Civil Society Organisations, companies, and associations. This is a decrease from 2008, were 3,406 complaints were received.

In about 80% of cases, the Ombudsman was able to take action by opening an inquiry into the complaint, transferring it to a competent body, or giving advice on where a citizen could turn for help.

The Ombudsman initiated 339 inquiries and closed 318 inquiries in 2009. In total, 5,000 complaints and information requests were handled.

The European Commission was the focus of the majority of the inquiries opened in 2009 (56%), followed by the European Parliament, the European Personnel Selection Office, the Council and the Court of Justice of the EU.

In 56% of cases, the institution concerned accepted a friendly solution or were able to settle the issue.

For Further Information

- The 2009 Annual Report The report is currently available in English, and will be available in all EU languages by July.
- The Ombudsman’s Overview 2009 contains summaries of cases, background information and statistics. It is available in all 23 official EU languages.

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Last modified on May 28 2010.