The European Ombudsman is an independent European body in charge of conducting inquiries about cases of maladministration by the European Union public administration (EU Institutions, Bodies, Offices and Agencies). Maladministration can occur if an institution or any other EU body fails to respect fundamental rights, EU law and principles of good administration. 

The areas of work of the European Ombudsman include transparency issues (access to documents), management of EU funds, fundamental rights (including CRPD), infringement of EU law (when the Commission has not handled well an infringement procedure), EU recruitment process and EU personnel issues.

The European Ombudsman can conduct an inquiry either on its own initiative or on the basis of complaints submitted by an EU citizen or any natural or legal person residing or having a registered office in an EU Member State. In this process, the Ombudsman can request information from the EU Institutions and Bodies concerned.

At the end of the inquiry, the Ombudsman can prepare a solution proposal to the institution concerned. If this fails, it will make recommendations to address the situation. If the institution concerned does not accept the recommendations, the Ombudsman can draw a special report to the European Parliament. Although the Ombudsman decisions are not legally binding, the rate of compliance with her findings are relatively high.

• Any EU citizen or an individual, business and organisation based in the EU can submit a complaint to the European Ombudsman. Before contacting the European Ombudsman, you first need to try to resolve the matter with the institution concerned.
• To submit a complaint you can either fill the online european ombudsman complaint form or fill in this physical european ombudsman complaint form and send it by post the European Ombudsman Office in Strasbourg (France) [1].
• Even if you are not personally affected, you can complain to the Ombudsman.
• Remember, the complaint will only be accepted if it concerns an EU institution, body, office or agency (list of EU institutions, bodies, offices or agencies available here) and be submitted within 2 years of the date you became aware of the problem.
• If your complaint refers to maladministration by National, Regional or Local authorities, don’t worry, you can submit your complain to the national and regional ombudsmen (list of national and regional ombudsman available here). 
• Although the recommendations of the Ombudsman are not legally binding, in case of non-compliance, the European Ombudsman can write a report to the European Parliament, bringing public attention to the issue.

If you want to know more about the work of the European Ombudsman, read this booklet about the European Ombudsman Work

[1] Address of European Ombudsman : Médiateur européen, 1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman, CS 30403, F-67001 Strasbourg Cedex

• European Funds: in 2021, the European Ombudsman opened an inquiry on her own initiative to look into how the Commission monitors that the Member States use EU Structural Funds to promote the right of persons with disabilities to independent living and inclusion in the community. After the inquiry, the Ombudsman concluded that the Commission could provide clearer guidance to promote deinstitutionalisation in the context of Structural Funds and that further steps could be taken to improve monitoring and enforcement (more information on the ombudsman’s own initiative inquiry on the use of European Funds).
• Web Accessibility: In 2015 the UN Committee in charge of assessing how the EU complies with the CRPD found that EU institutions needed to do more to improve the accessibility of their websites. Following this finding, and the information sent by organisations such as the European Blind Union on the accessibility problems of the commission websites, the Ombudsman opened an inquiry against the European Commission in 2017. The Ombudsman was satisfied with the steps that the Commission was taking to improve the situation and provided some recommendations. The inquiry was closed in 2018 
• European Funds: In October 2019, the European Network for Independent Living (ENIL) submitted a complaint against the European Commission for the use of European Structural and Investment Funds for the construction of institutional care facilities in Portugal and Hungary. After its inquiry, the Ombudsman concluded that there were shortcomings but that the Commission took actions to address the problems identified. It adopted three recommendations to improve the situation (more information on ENIL’s complaint to the European Ombudsman).
• Recruitment Processes: In March 2018, two visually impaired candidates who participated in EU Civil Service recruiting process complained about the lack of accessibility of online application forms and lack of proper accommodation during the test. After its inquiry, the Ombudsman concluded that the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)’s action constituted maladministration and made recommendations to improve the situation.