What does the European What are the institutions Who can complain Ombudsman do? and bodies of the EU? to the Ombudsman?
The European Ombudsman investigates complaints against The institutions and bodies of the EU include the: If you are a citizen of a Member State of the Union or
the institutions and bodies of the European Union (EU). You reside in a Member State, you can make a complaint to (EPSO) ce ■ European Parliament can complain to the Ombudsman about maladministration the European Ombudsman about maladministration in ■ in the activities of these institutions and bodies. Council of the European Union the activities of the EU institutions and bodies. Businesses, ce (OLAF) ce ■ European Commission associations or other bodies with a registered offi ce in the The European Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints (Europol) ce Union may also complain to the Ombudsman. against national, regional or local administrations in the ■ Court of Justice of the European Communities ...... Member States, even when the complaints are about EU (except in its judicial role) ...... matters. Many of these complaints could be addressed ■ European Court of Auditors What result can you expect?
to national or regional ombudsmen or committees on ...... ■ European Investment Bank Investment European Bank Central European Selection Offi Personnel European Offi Anti-Fraud European Offi Police European Other Union body (please specify)
petitions in national or regional parliaments. Contact details European Economic and Social Committee ...... for all national and regional ombudsmen and committees ...... ■ Committee of the Regions of the European Union The Ombudsman may simply need to inform the ® ® ® ® ® ® ......
on petitions in the EU are available on the European ...... ■ institution concerned about a complaint in order for Ombudsman’s website: European Investment Bank it to resolve the problem. If the case is not resolved http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu ■ European Central Bank satisfactorily during the course of the inquiries, ■ European Personnel Selection Offi ce (EPSO) the Ombudsman will try, if possible, to fi nd a friendly solution which puts right the case of maladministration all the documents necessary support to complaint. your What is maladministration? ■ European Anti-Fraud Offi ce (OLAF) form. lling out this complaint and satisfi es the complainant. If the attempt at ■ European Police Offi ce (Europol) conciliation fails, the Ombudsman can make recommendations to solve the case. If the institution does Maladministration means poor or failed administration. ■ Decentralised agencies (such as the European not accept his recommendations, he can make a special This occurs if an institution fails to act in accordance Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, report to the European Parliament. with the law, fails to respect the principles of good the European Environment Agency, the Offi ce for administration, or violates human rights. Some examples are: Harmonisation in the Internal Market, etc.) ...... ■ administrative irregularities Please note that this list is not exhaustive. An overview of the EU institutions and bodies is available on the Europa ■ unfairness website: http://www.europa.eu ...... ■ ...... discrimination ...... ■ ......
abuse of power Parliament European Union of the European Council Commission European (*) Communities Court of the European of Justice Court of Auditors European and Social Economic Committee European Union of the European of the Regions Committee ......
■ failure to reply name: First Surname: On behalf of (if applicable): line 1: Address line 2: Address Town/City: County/State/Province: Postcode: Country: Tel.: Fax: E-mail: complain? wish to Union (EU) institution or body do you which European Against ® ® ® ® ® ® ® in its judicial role. (*) Except of it? aware become When did you complain? about which you What is the decision or matter that the EU institution or body has done wrong? consider What do you
■ refusal of information Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary on a separate Please continue and enclose The European Ombudsman The European ABOUT MALADMINISTRATION COMPLAINT fi before complain’ to ‘How the sectionPlease read entitled
■ 2
unnecessary delay 1 3 4
OOPO50400_Ombudsman_EN.inddPO50400_Ombudsman_EN.indd 2 110/10/060/10/06 20:53:2420:53:24 10 QK-72-05-015-EN-D 6 5 9 8 7 How to complain How to contact the European Ombudsman The European Ombudsman ( No 45/2001 to the Ombudsman dealing publicly with any 5 (d) of Regulation (EC) personal data which the complaint may co Article personal data by the Community institutions and bodies on the free movement of such data (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1). The European Ombudsman — 1 Avenue — B.P. du Président Schuman Robert 403 — FR- 67001 Strasbourg Cedex — France Ombudsman is governed No 45/2001 ( by Regulation (EC) Complaints to the Ombudsman may contain personal data relating to the complainant, or to a third party. The processing of perso the identifi begins an inquiry. The Ombudsman’s decisions on confi or to the other documents mentioned above. However, even a confi A complainant has the right to request that his or her complaint be dealt with confi form, in hardfull, copy or in summary formats. and electronic These publications do not include the complainant’s name or addr have access on request. The Ombudsman’s decisions on complaints are published on his website with the complainant’s name remove Provisions 14 of the Implementing (availablementioned in Article on the Ombudsman’s website) are public documents to which any the opinion of institution or body concerned on the opinion made by on the complaint, the complainant, any as observations ‘Dealing publicly’ with a complaint means that any member of the public may have access to the complaint and its annexes. th If Complaints to the European Ombudsman (and any annexed documents) are normally dealt with publicly. Have you already the EU institution or body concerned contacted in order to obtain redress? What, in your view, should the institution or body do to put things right? Date and signature: Ombudsman decides that he is not entitled to deal with it? Do you agree that your complaint may be passed on to another institution or body (European or national), if the European Please select of your complaintHas the object or is it pending before already been settled by a court a court? institutions already expired? administrative requests and complaints provided for in the Staff the complaint concernsIf work relationships with the EU institutions and bodies: have you used all the possibilities for inter
1 ) Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European) Regulation (EC) Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals Write to the Ombudsman in any of the Treaty languages 1 cation of the complainant. This information is also removed form, in a har if the decision is published in full, or in summary ( ), setting out clearly who you are, which EU institution ■ By mail COULD HE HELP YOU? ® ® ® ® ® ® or body you are complaining against and the grounds for The European Ombudsman one Yes I require that my complaint be treated confi Please treat my complaint publicly Yes (please specify) Yes (please specify) Yes (please specify) your complaint. 1 Avenue du Président Robert Schuman of the following two options ■ A complaint must be made within two years of the B.P. 403 date when you became aware of the facts on which FR-67001 Strasbourg Cedex your complaint is based. France ■ ■ You need not be individually aff ected by the By telephone maladministration. +33 (0)3 88 17 23 13 ■ ■ By fax dential complaints are published on his website, the removal after of any information which could lead to You must already have contacted the institution or 1 ). Unless the complainant requests confi body concerned about the matter, for example by a +33 (0)3 88 17 90 62 after having readafter the information in the box below letter. ■ By e-mail dential complaint must be sent to the Union institution or body concerned, if the Ombudsman ■ The Ombudsman does not deal with matters that [email protected] dentially ® ® ® ® are currently before a court or that have already ■ Website No No No No Regulations? If so, Regulations? If have the time limits for replies by the been settled by a court. http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu dentially. confi If The Ombudsman will examine your complaint, and you will be informed of the outcome of his investigation. dentiality, he or she is understood to consent for the purposes of dentiality is requested,dentiality there is no public access to the complaint A complaint can be made by writing a letter to the European Ombudsman or by using the form enclosed. An electronic version of this complaint form is available on the Ombudsman’s website: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu ess. e Ombudsman opens an inquiry, well as other documents : nal data by the European with regard to the processing of ntain. member of the public may d copy format. or electronic d. are Some also published in Complaint guide and form
(1) There are currently (in June 2006) 21 Treaty languages: Czech, Danish,
nal Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish. June 2006 en
OOPO50400_Ombudsman_EN.inddPO50400_Ombudsman_EN.indd 1 110/10/060/10/06 20:53:1720:53:17 The European Ombudsman
COMPLAINT ABOUT MALADMINISTRATION by Ramon Marimon (November 5, 2010)
4. The European Commission, after the pre‐selection process, has: a. allowed external intromissions and pressures aimed at ending the process without an appointment; pressures such as requests for me to withdraw, after I had been pre‐selected as one of the three final candidates; b. not replied to my letters complaining about the irregularities of the process and requesting explanations; in particular, my (20/09/2010) letter to the DG of Research, Robert‐Jan Smits; c. not been transparent. In particular, it has implicitly pursued (or endorsed) a change of policy with respect to the one stated in the communication COM(2009) 552 and in the basis of the call. To implement this change of policy, entailing maintaining the current governance structure, the selection process needed to fail, which is what has happened; an ending to the process that could hardly be reached without the consent of those responsible for the ERCEA within the European Commission. 5. Even if the main costs that this maladministration has generated cannot be recovered, still the EC can: a. publicly apologize for the personal costs that it has generated; b. provide the explanations requested in my letters (the 20/09/2010 mentioned, and the 19/11/2010 to Commissioner Máire Geoghegan‐ Quinn); c. publicly explain why such an important and competitive selection process has failed in making an appointment and state if there has been a change of policy that justifies closing the process without an appointment and subsequently keeping the current governance structure of the ERCEA, contrary to what in 2009 the ERC Review Panel recommended and the Commission endorsed.