"5.5% of the reports submitted to the European Mediator in 2005 came from companies, firms or associations, while 95.5% was from private citizens". The figure of the Mediator as the "defender" of people’s rights is spreading, partly because "the Ombudsman is now in its tenth year of activity". The considerations made by Nikiforos Diamandouros, upon presenting the Report of the body he represents and embodies, range from the content of the submitted reports to their geographical origin. If we look at the rate of submitted reports per country, the countries that have most often contacted Diamandouros are Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Belgium, Slovenia and Spain. Bottom of the list are Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Estonia and Denmark. "As many as 59% of all reports submitted in 2005 was sent electronically, either by email or through the form which can be found on the Mediator’s website". "As in the past reads the Report most investigations concerned the European Commission (68% of the total)", since it "takes decisions that directly affect the citizens". In addition, 73 investigations were carried out about the EU Staff Selection Office (Epso), 58 about the EU Parliament and 14 on the EU Council. (to be continued)
