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Election of the European Ombudsman 2024
The European Ombudsman is chosen from among persons who are Union citizens, have full civil and political rights, offer every guarantee of independence, and meet the conditions required for the exercise of the highest judicial office in their country or have the acknowledged competence and qualifications to undertake the duties of the Ombudsman. In addition, candidates must not have been members of national governments or members of the European Parliament, the European Council or the European Commission within the two years preceding the date of publication of the call for nominations.
A candidate must have the support of at least 39 Members of the European Parliament from at least two Member States.
Admissible candidates present their priorities in a hearing held by the Committee on Petitions.
The responsibilities of the European Ombudsman are considerable. Following complaints by citizens or on his or her initiative, the Ombudsman conducts inquiries concerning instances of maladministration in the activities of the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the European Union. Each year, the Ombudsman submits a report to Parliament on the outcome of such inquiries.
The European Parliament elects the European Ombudsman by secret ballot. If no candidate is elected, by a majority of the votes cast, after the first two ballots, a third ballot takes place between the two candidates obtaining the most votes in the second ballot.
For transparency purposes, candidates' curricula vitae as well as their cover letters are published on Parliament's website in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.
The indicative timetable for the selection process is as follows:
30 August 2024: publication of the call for nominations in the Official Journal;
30 September 2024: closing date for applications;
13 November 2024: announcement by the President of Parliament in plenary of the admissible candidates;
3 December 2024: public hearings of the candidates by the Committee on Petitions.
The election in plenary session is planned for December 2024.