Brussels, 17/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros presented his annual report for 2011 at a conference in Brussels on Monday 16 May. Noting that his main priority is “to help the EU administration to become more open, proactive, accountable, and citizen-friendly”, he welcomed the excellent progress in the success rate of investigations opened in 2010. Of the 335 investigations opened, 326 were closed, with 179 being settled amicably or ending the dispute. In 78% of cases, investigations were carried out following complaints from EU citizens, with most being against the European Commission (65%) and most commonly related to issues over transparency (33%). Other categories of complaint against the European institutions related to contracts and calls for tenders, the rights of handicapped persons, recruitment and unfairness.
The total number of complaints fell from 3,098 in 2009 to 2,667 in 2010, but only 744 fell within the remit of the European ombudsman. In over 70% of all cases, the ombudsman was able to help the complainants by opening an inquiry, transferring a case to the competent body, or giving advice on where to turn. The greatest number of complaints about the EU administration came from German and Spanish citizens. However, relative to the population the greatest proportion of complaints came from Luxembourg, Cyprus, and Belgium. (J.K./transl.rt)