The office of the European Ombudsman was created by the Agreement of Maastricht (1992). The Ombudsman is appointed by the European Parliament for the duration of one election period (five years) and is based in Strasbourg.

The Ombudsman is independent of instructions of the governments and works on a neutral basis. His task is to accept and process complaints from citizens and legal entities of the European Union, which are against the European Institutions (with the exception of the Court of Justice).

He is authorised, "to accept complaints from all citizens of the Union or from each natural person or legal entity with residence or registered seat as per statutes in a member state concerning grievances with the activity of the bodies or institutions of the Union, with the exception of the Court of Justice and the court of the first instance when exercising their authorisations for established case law." Thus, it is stipulated in Article 195 of the EU agreement.

It is deemed a grievance in the administrative activity if a public institution does not act in line with regulations or principles binding which is binding for it. Assumed grievances could be for example: Irregularities or omissions in administration, improper use of power, violations of EU law, discriminations, delays, non-disclosure of information.

He cannot deal with complaints about national, regional or municipal administrations, even if these complaints relate to union law. He shall refer such complaints to another institution, e.g. a national or regional ombudsman or a committee on public petitions.

The main fields of activity of the Ombudsman are

• Protection of basic rights
• Ensuring a transparent and accountable administration
• Improvement of the services of the institutions
• Guarantee of the observance of legal norms
• Protection of the rights of employees in the institutions

The Ombudsman forwards the complaint he receives to the institution concerned. The institution concerned then sends him a justified statement within three months. The Ombudsman subsequently submits a report to the European Parliament and the institution concerned. The complainant is also informed about the results of the investigations.

The Ombudsman also submits a report about the results of his investigations to the European Parliament once a year.