The European Ombudsman: Good Governance, Human Rights and the European Union

Abstract

The European Ombudsman was established by the European Union’s (EU) Maastricht Treaty to oversee the conduct of European Community (EC) institutions and bodies, excluding only the Courts when acting in their judicial role. As noted in Chapter 10, the European Ombudsman can be categorized generally as one of the external accountability mechanisms of the supranational EU. In particular, the European Ombudsman is the only example of a fully-fledged, classical ombudsman at the international level. It was created in an attempt to reduce the democratic deficit in the EC, by improving the channels for persons living in EU member states to voice their complaints over EC governance, and by increasing the EU’s transparency and accountability. The European Ombudsman addresses instances of Community maladministration, thereby improving good governance on the part of the Community institutions and bodies. Also, human rights matters fall within the jurisdiction of the European Ombudsman and, thus, the office can and does contribute to the EU’s observance of human rights.