Parliament to have committee on ombudsman

The European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, has been assured that a parliamentary committee would be set up to focus on the work carried out by the office of the Ombudsman in Malta.

Mr Diamandouros said he was aware of complaints by Malta's ombudsman Joseph Sammut about the lack of interest by parliament and MPs in his work. Addressing a press conference with the EU head of delegation in Malta, Ronald Gallimore, he said he had been assured that a two-person parliamentary committee was expected to start paying more attention to the work of the ombudsman.

Mr Diamandouros said he met Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami in the presence of Mr Sammut. "In the meeting, the prime minister was very supportive of the idea for parliament to become more attentive to the ombudsman's work."

Relations between the government and Mr Sammut had deteriorated at the end of the last legislature following a controversial interview in which Mr Sammut had lambasted the government on a number of issues.

Mr Diamandouros was full of praise for the work carried out by Mr Sammut.

He said it was the role of the ombudsman to ensure that the administration abides by the rule of law and that whenever he felt that this was not being done, he had the duty to say so, even in public.

Mr Diamandouros said Mr Sammut had been acting within the logical framework of his mandate. He praised the government's support for appointing a specific parliamentary committee, adding that this would ensure that due attention would be given to the work of the ombudsman.

Mr Diamandouros explained that the aim of his tour to acceding countries was to inform European citizens, including the Maltese, of their rights as citizens of a member state. Being a European body, the jurisdiction of his office extended only to European institutions.

"Residents of any member state or companies having an office in a member state are able to submit a request only in cases where they will be claiming violation of EU laws by EU institutions such as the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European parliament or the European Investment Bank," Mr Diamandouros said.

"I am not there to cater for cases dealing with the local institutions or the government of any particular member state... I also want to clarify that the European Ombudsman's office is not a court of appeal for cases rejected by the local ombudsman."

As to what type of complaints the European Ombudsman received, Mr Diamandouros said: "We get all sorts of requests such as complaints about failure of public administration to answer in time or to answer at all. I also receive complaints about recruitment by EU institutions or by unsuccessful bidders for EU tenders.

"Sometimes I also receive complaints from successful bidders seeking to clarify the interpretation of certain clauses in their agreement with European institutions."

Mr Diamandouros said the media had a major role to play in his job: "I also get requests from the media for access to certain EU documents, which highlights the need for EU institutions to be transparent. A considerable number of cases will be filed by journalists."

The European Ombudsman also goes into allegations about abuse of power or discrimination.

Asked whether the EU institutions overall accepted his recommendations, Mr Diamandouros replied: "The positive thing about my work is that in most cases the EU public administration in the various respective institutions accepts my recommendation. It is indeed an extraordinarily rare occurrence when my recommendation is not accepted. In such cases I will be left with no option but to publicly declare my opinion."

Mr Diamandouros is visiting Malta for the first time since he has only been in office since April.

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.