Petitions Committee to hear candidates for the next EU Ombudsman
Candidates running for the post of European Ombudsman will present their priorities in a hearing organised by the Petitions Committee on 3 December.
When: 3 December, 2019, from 10:00 to 18:00
Where: Antall building, room 4Q1 in Brussels
You can follow live on EP live or catch up via Video on Demand (VOD).
Parliament is expected to elect the new European Ombudsman by secret ballot during the December plenary session. The Petitions Committee (PETI) is responsible for organising public hearings with the candidates. The hearing is open to all MEPs.
Structure of the hearing
Each of the five candidates (list below), will have a one-hour hearing.
Political group coordinators will ask the first round of questions (one minute per question, three minutes for answers).
Subsequent questions will be posed by other MEPs. Each discussion will conclude with a short statement by the candidate.
In the days before the hearing, candidates will submit a 10-minute introductory statement, which will be available on the official website when translated in all official languages.
Programme of the hearing
10:00 to 10:15 Procedural announcements
10:15 to 11:20 Hearing of Giuseppe FORTUNATO
11:25 to 12:30 Hearing of Julia LAFFRANQUE
14:30 to 15:35 Hearing of Nils MUIŽNIEKS
15:40 to 16:45 Hearing of Emily O’REILLY
16:50 to 17:55 Hearing of Cecilia WIKSTRÖM
Background
The names of the five admissible candidates were announced during the October plenary session in Strasbourg.
The European Ombudsman conducts inquiries into cases of maladministration by EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, acting on his or her own initiative or on the basis of complaints from EU citizens.
The Ombudsman is elected by the Parliament at the start of each parliamentary term. The current European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, was elected in July 2013 and was re-elected in December 2014 for a five-year term.
