Inaugural Lecture

26 May 2008

Professor Diamandouros addressed key issues concerning the role, responsibilities and vision of the European Ombudsman institution, and answered questions from the audience. He emphasised that European citizens have rights extending beyond their participation in national elections; they can also petition the European Parliament and have the right of access to the European Ombudsman in dealing with European institutions across the European Union. More specifically, Professor Diamandouros explained that:

“The ombudsman institution originated in Sweden in 1809 and has since expanded to over 60 countries in the world. To this day, the ombudsman institution applies to 22 European countries. The European Ombudsman is elected by parliament. The goal of an ombudsman is to try to deal with complaints against European institutions. It can be difficult to explain where this responsibility begins and where it ends. If the case regards a violation of European law by the European civil service, people can come to me. However, an ombudsman has no power to impose binding decisions. The ombudsman acts as an external mechanism of control of the public administration, whose mandate it is to provide recommendations and opinions but does not have the power to impose sanctions.

You might ask: what is the point of having ombudsmen if they cannot impose their views? Does an ombudsman act as a fig leaf for the government, just a legal way out of difficult situations? The answer is that, as the situation stands today, there is a very high degree of compliance of the European public administration with non-binding decisions, because the rule of law is deeply entrenched at the European level. As a result, the European public administration cannot easily ignore a recommendation by the ombudsman. Therefore the credibility of the institution is well established.

Complaints reaching the ombudsman fall mainly under four large categories:

1) Lack of transparency, the failure to provide access to documents through negligence or abuse of power.
2) Personnel issues regarding mainly recruitment institutions.
3) Lack of the appropriate services provided to small or medium enterprises.
4) Violations of a mandate.

The ombudsman’s function complements that of the courts, and his services can be invaluable. Ombudsmen believe that good administration does not necessarily fall under the law. An ombudsman can lighten the burden of the courts, by providing citizens or users with a much more flexible and free service, which is much faster than a court and can find friendly solutions, as he does not have to decide for or against an issue. The ombudsman’s service is a truly democratic institution, which has been providing solutions on issues concerning citizens and residents in over 25 European countries. It is hoped that it will expand in the near future to more countries and in more languages, so as to meet the needs of a growing number of people who use it.”

Professor Agni Vlavianos Arvanitis
President and Founder, The Club of Rome Hellenic Chapter
President and Founder, Biopolitics International Organisation