Listening to citizens” “

“The deeper the roots of democracy, the greater is the guarantee of respect for fundamental human rights”: NIKIFOROS DIAMANDOUROS has filled the post of European Ombudsman, or “civil defence counsel” of the EU, since 2003. His role is to defend the citizens of the Union in their relations with the institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg and to intervene whenever an individual, a business or an association feel that their rights have been violated. A Greek, an accomplished jurist esteemed in the USA (he taught at the State University of New York and at Columbia University), Diamandouros explains to SIR, who met him in Strasbourg: “You must never underestimate the requests of citizens and you need to interpret them in their context, given that the European Union now comprises no less than 25 States”. The office of the European Ombudsman, for which provision was made by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, is now celebrating its 10th anniversary, having been in operation since 27 September 1995. Prof. Diamandouros, how many citizens knock on your door? And for what reasons? “In the Report that the Ombudsman must present to the European Parliament each year, I reported a sharp increase in complaints. In 2004 there were 3,726, with a growth of 53% over the previous year. I can confirm that the figure for this year will be even higher. Also due to the growing burden of work, the staff of the office, including lawyers and secretarial staff, will increase from roughly 30 to double that number by the end of this year. The reasons for seeking redress from the Ombudsman are various: misadministration, lack of transparency or refusal to provide access to information, presumed irregularities in public competitions for the hiring of personnel in the EU, and the failure to respect contracts, especially with small firms. In all these cases we open an enquiry and ask the institution involved for an explanation and, if necessary, a solution to the problem”. Do complaints arrive in equal measure from all member countries? What institutions do citizens most frequently complain about? “Last year Spain topped the classification with 482 cases, followed by Germany, France and Poland. In proportion to population, on the other hand, the most ‘reactive’ countries were Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Belgium and Slovenia. For 2005 I can confirm that the Mediterranean area is very much present in terms of complaints, but denunciations of irregularities are also coming from citizens and businesses in Eastern Europe. The institution most frequently complained of is the Commission. The reason is self-evident, given that this is the body with which citizens have most contacts in view of its ‘concrete’ functions”. Do citizens know what the role of the Ombudsman is? And, more generally, do they know how to defend their rights? “Awareness of one’s own rights is the first step to being able to defend them. That’s why, apart from my usual work at Strasbourg, I travel all over Europe, meeting public institutions, ombudsmen who work at the national or local level, university teachers, and journalists. I consider it equally important to have meetings in which I come into direct contact with citizens of the various nations of the Union. This year, moreover, we have published the ‘European Code of Good Administrative Conduct’, which has been a small publishing success, with a first edition of 100,000 copies. It’s a booklet requested by many countries, even outside Europe”. But EU legislation is not always so clear for ordinary people… “That’s a real problem… I am not sure, indeed, that EU directives are easily intelligible for a citizen. European legislation is undoubtedly complex, also due to the scale of the issues on which the EU has to intervene and the fact of legislating on questions that are felt differently from one State to another. For these reasons, we need to keep present the need to simplify language and increasingly aim at transparency and the free access of people to Community law”. In your view, is there a different attitude to this legislation on the part of citizens in the old and new countries of the Union? “I wouldn’t say there is any diversity between East and West… Undoubtedly, however, we ascertain that rights and duties are felt in different ways by citizens of the various countries, or between one country and another, or between one region of the Union and another. In the new member states, for example, some degree of mistrust is understandable, because Europe is asking them to cede to Brussels a part of the sovereignty they have only recently regained. When the benefits of membership become visible, this mistrust will gradually be reduced. From your point of view, how do you see the future of the Union? “Difficulties in the process of integration are not lacking and are visible to us all. But I see the glass half full, not half empty, because with the process of drafting the Constitution a great debate has been opened that has helped to make everyone more aware of what’s at stake in continental integration. The efficient functioning of EU bodies – I continue to repeat – is also important, for in this way citizens feel better protected, closer to the institutions and participants in democratic life”.