New European Ombudsman

On 3 July 2013 Ms Emily O’Reilly, Ombudsman and Information Commissioner of Ireland, has been elected by the European Parliament and will succeed Nikiforos Diamandouros as new European Ombudsman.

Six candidates were running for the position of the European Ombudsman. In the third round of voting Ombudsman and Information Commissioner of Ireland, Ms Emily O’Reilly, secured an absolute majority of votes of the European Parliament and was therefore elected to serve as European Ombudsman.

According to the Office of the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner of Ireland, “Ms O’Reilly will continue in her role as Ombudsman and Information Commissioner until 1 October 2013 after which she will formally take over as European Ombudsman.”

Ms O’Reilly will succeed Nikiforos Diamandouros, who will retire in October 2013. Mr Diamandouros served two terms as European Ombudsman starting in 2003 and being re-elected in 2005. In a first statement Mr Diamandouros congratulated Emily O’Reilly on her election, saying that he was convinced “that Emily O’Reilly will pursue with dedication, dynamism, and vision the European Ombudsman’s goal of serving as a bridge between European citizens and the EU administration.”

The Austrian Ombudsman Board would like to congratulate Ms O’Reilly on her election as European Ombudsman and thank Mr Diamandouros for his passionate dedication to the office over the past ten years.