EU Ombudsman to visit

European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros is visiting Malta for the first time next month.

He has been in office since April. From 1998 to 2003, he was the first National Ombudsman of Greece. He has also been professor of comparative politics at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens since 1993.

The European Ombudsman was established to deal with complaints about maladministration by the institutions and bodies of the European Union. Between 1995 and 2003, the European Ombudsman dealt with over 10,000 grievances from citizens, companies, organisations and public authorities.

As from May, the Maltese will have the right to complain to the European Ombudsman. People do not have to show they are directly affected by the alleged maladministration to lodge a complaint.

If an institution fails to do something it should have done, if it does it in the wrong way or if it does something it should not have done, there may be reason to complain to the ombudsman. Some of the most common problems the ombudsman deals with are unnecessary delays, refusal of information, discrimination and abuse of power.

The European Ombudsman examines complaints against EU institutions and bodies. He cannot examine complaints against national, regional or local authorities, even when the complaints are about EU legislation.