European Ombudsman. Annual report 2000

The European Parliament adopted the report by Mr Herbert BÖSCH (PES, A) on the annual report on the activities of the European Ombudsman for the year 2000. In this resolution welcoming the Ombudsman's annual report for 2000, the House calls for increased publicity and a more effective information policy for both the Ombudsman and Parliament's own petition's committee. The remit of the Ombudsman is limited to maladministration in the EU's institutions while the Petition's Committee can deal with wider issues and complaints regarding the implementation of EU policy in general. The House also wants candidate countries to etsablish their own Ombudsman (to date, 11 countries have set up an Ombudsman's office, Bulgaria and Slovakia being exceptions).�