Brussels, 29/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - According to his 2011 annual report published on Tuesday 29 May, European Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros last year helped more than 22,000 European citizens, companies, NGOs and associations, either by investigating complaints, answering information requests, or giving advice via his online interactive guide. The Ombudsman received 2,510 complaints in 2011, compared to 2,667 in 2010. He opened a record number of 396 investigations into alleged maladministration by the EU administration. This represents an increase of 18% compared to the previous year, when 335 inquiries were opened. In 2011, Spain, with 361 complaints, overtook Germany (308) with the greatest number of complaints, followed by Poland (233) and Belgium (190).
As in the past, the most common subject matter of the Ombudsman's inquiries in 2011 was lack of transparency in the EU administration, including refusal to release documents or information. In a press release, the Ombudsman underlines the fact that “a welcome development this year was that the percentage of transparency-related cases decreased from 33% in 2010 to 25%”. Other cases concerned problems with the execution of EU contracts or calls for tender, unfairness, and discrimination.
In 66% of all inquiries closed in 2011 (212 cases), the Ombudsman was able to achieve a positive outcome, because the institutions concerned accepted a friendly solution proposal, settled a problem, or submitted a satisfactory reply. He found maladministration in 47 cases, a slight increase compared to 40 cases in 2010.
Most of the inquiries opened in 2011 concerned the European Commission (58%), followed by the EU Agencies taken together (13%), the European Personnel Selection Office (11%), and the European Parliament (4%).
In 2011, the Ombudsman transferred 1,288 complaints to national or regional ombudsmen in the member states, the European Parliament's petitions committee, the European Commission, and other problem-solving mechanisms, such as SOLVIT or Your Europe Advice. (OL/transl.fl)