Strasbourg, 13/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 10 May, the European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, presented his Annual Report for 2004 to the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament. In a brief press conference on 11 May, the Ombudsman said the 2004 saw an unprecedented rise of 53% in complaints to the Ombudsman (27% of them from the new Member States) and this trend was continuing in 2005. He said this did not reflect a worsening of behaviour by the European institutions, but was rather a clear sign of increasing awareness of the service provided by the Ombudsman and greater information provided by the European institutions. Nikiforos Diamandouros has been European Ombudsman since 2003 and in his role as Ombudsman he has visited every EU Member State. He said he had personally been able to witness the way citizens feel their rights are supported and feel encouraged by the good outcome of mediation - in almost 70% of the cases handled, the Ombudsman helped the complainant by opening an inquiry into the case, transferring it to a competent body or giving advice on where to turn for a prompt and effective solution to the problem. The institutions concerned had settled bills and paid interest, released documents and provided explanations, remedied injustices and apologised for mistakes. He said there would always be cases where both sides think they are right, but the Ombudsman's job is to try and obtain the best possible response.
On 25 May, the Ombudsman will meet the European Commission, which is still the institution he deals with the most, being the subject of 70% of the complaints he receives.