Seven days - a week in the life of Gundi Gadesmann
by Gundi Gadesmann
11 November 2011
The European Ombudsman's media officer encourages more complaints in Copenhagen, meets NGO representatives, welcomes the establishment of more ombudsmen – and admires the beauty of Brussels' Foręt de Soignes
Monday
A busy day, following up on last week which I spent with the European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, in Copenhagen. He was the co-organiser of a conference for ombudsmen from more than 30 European countries. I used the occasion to set up briefings with Danish journalists and civil society organisations, with the invaluable assistance of the European Parliament's excellent office in the city. Too few Danish citizens, non-governmental organisations, companies, universities, and associations know that the ombudsman solves problems with the European Union administration. We try to profit from every visit to a member state to publicise our services to journalists and potential complainants. I guess that makes us one of the few institutions in the world actively striving for more complaints.
Tuesday
The parliament will debate the ombudsman's Annual Report 2010 on Thursday in Strasbourg. I organised some media interviews for the ombudsman in advance, but cannot be in Strasbourg myself as I have to catch a plane from Brussels to Berlin. The ombudsman of the German private health insurance companies is celebrating his tenth anniversary and has invited me to explain the work of the European Ombudsman to a high-level audience, including German parliamentarians. More and more ombudsmen are being established in the EU, in the public as well as in the private sector. That's good news for citizens and strengthens the concept of non-judicial redress.
Wednesday
I take the morning flight back to Brussels and go straight to the office from the airport. There is significant media interest concerning several complaints we recently received about the composition of stakeholder groups of the newly established financial supervision agencies, such as the European Banking Authority. Consumer organisations and others complain that the big players in the financial industry are over-represented in these stakeholder groups. I tell journalists that we opened investigations into the complaints and that the EBA has been invited to submit an opinion by the end of January 2012.
Thursday
The debate on the ombudsman's annual report takes place in Strasbourg and leads to further press coverage. During the debate, MEPs raise concerns about the high number of transparency complaints against the EU administration. I trust that parliament's own administration is following the debate, as some of the transparency complaints received each year are against the parliament. Although I am not in Strasbourg for the debate, I am able to follow the entirety of the ombudsman's presentation and the exchange that follows thanks to the parliament's live web stream – a great service to citizens, journalists and EU stakeholders who can follow the democratic process from their offices. Many MEPs praise the ombudsman's communication activities, including the interactive guide on his website which helps over 20,000 citizens each year to find the right body to turn to with their problem, be it at the regional, national, or European level.
Friday
Together with our secretary-general, I meet with representatives of a Brussels based pro-transparency NGO. I regularly set up such meetings with what we call "target group representatives", be it with representatives from NGOs, businesses, regions, or other such stakeholders – in short all kinds of umbrella groups which might at one point need the services of the ombudsman and which are happy to help inform their members in the EU member states about their right to complain. The dialogue with stakeholders is one of the ombudsman's top priorities in his strategy for the current mandate. In today's meeting, the NGO representatives have concrete questions regarding the ombudsman's procedures.
Saturday
My boyfriend works in the fashion industry and we have one of his colleagues visiting from Spain. Thank goodness there is a fashion design weekend taking place in our neighbourhood around Place Sainte Catherine in Brussels. For dinner, we go to one of our favourite restaurants in rue de Flandre and talk about the crisis in Europe. The fashion industry serves as a good thermometer – virtually no business in Greece these days, but Benelux is still doing pretty well.
Sunday
The two men drive to Antwerp to visit the fashion museum and the art galleries. I have had enough of fashion talk and go jogging in the Foręt de Soignes. I am still amazed that there is this wonderful forest so close to the centre of Brussels. The colours of the trees are as beautiful as any art gallery during these autumn days. I am thinking of the coming week. which will be busy again. The next information visit with the ombudsman needs to be prepared - this time we will go to Portugal.
Gundi Gadesmann is media and external relations officer for the European Ombudsman
Monday
A busy day, following up on last week which I spent with the European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, in Copenhagen. He was the co-organiser of a conference for ombudsmen from more than 30 European countries. I used the occasion to set up briefings with Danish journalists and civil society organisations, with the invaluable assistance of the European Parliament's excellent office in the city. Too few Danish citizens, non-governmental organisations, companies, universities, and associations know that the ombudsman solves problems with the European Union administration. We try to profit from every visit to a member state to publicise our services to journalists and potential complainants. I guess that makes us one of the few institutions in the world actively striving for more complaints.
The parliament will debate the ombudsman's Annual Report 2010 on Thursday in Strasbourg. I organised some media interviews for the ombudsman in advance, but cannot be in Strasbourg myself as I have to catch a plane from Brussels to Berlin. The ombudsman of the German private health insurance companies is celebrating his tenth anniversary and has invited me to explain the work of the European Ombudsman to a high-level audience, including German parliamentarians. More and more ombudsmen are being established in the EU, in the public as well as in the private sector. That's good news for citizens and strengthens the concept of non-judicial redress.
I take the morning flight back to Brussels and go straight to the office from the airport. There is significant media interest concerning several complaints we recently received about the composition of stakeholder groups of the newly established financial supervision agencies, such as the European Banking Authority. Consumer organisations and others complain that the big players in the financial industry are over-represented in these stakeholder groups. I tell journalists that we opened investigations into the complaints and that the EBA has been invited to submit an opinion by the end of January 2012.
The debate on the ombudsman's annual report takes place in Strasbourg and leads to further press coverage. During the debate, MEPs raise concerns about the high number of transparency complaints against the EU administration. I trust that parliament's own administration is following the debate, as some of the transparency complaints received each year are against the parliament. Although I am not in Strasbourg for the debate, I am able to follow the entirety of the ombudsman's presentation and the exchange that follows thanks to the parliament's live web stream – a great service to citizens, journalists and EU stakeholders who can follow the democratic process from their offices. Many MEPs praise the ombudsman's communication activities, including the interactive guide on his website which helps over 20,000 citizens each year to find the right body to turn to with their problem, be it at the regional, national, or European level.
Together with our secretary-general, I meet with representatives of a Brussels based pro-transparency NGO. I regularly set up such meetings with what we call "target group representatives", be it with representatives from NGOs, businesses, regions, or other such stakeholders – in short all kinds of umbrella groups which might at one point need the services of the ombudsman and which are happy to help inform their members in the EU member states about their right to complain. The dialogue with stakeholders is one of the ombudsman's top priorities in his strategy for the current mandate. In today's meeting, the NGO representatives have concrete questions regarding the ombudsman's procedures.
My boyfriend works in the fashion industry and we have one of his colleagues visiting from Spain. Thank goodness there is a fashion design weekend taking place in our neighbourhood around Place Sainte Catherine in Brussels. For dinner, we go to one of our favourite restaurants in rue de Flandre and talk about the crisis in Europe. The fashion industry serves as a good thermometer – virtually no business in Greece these days, but Benelux is still doing pretty well.
The two men drive to Antwerp to visit the fashion museum and the art galleries. I have had enough of fashion talk and go jogging in the Foręt de Soignes. I am still amazed that there is this wonderful forest so close to the centre of Brussels. The colours of the trees are as beautiful as any art gallery during these autumn days. I am thinking of the coming week. which will be busy again. The next information visit with the ombudsman needs to be prepared - this time we will go to Portugal.
Gundi Gadesmann is media and external relations officer for the European Ombudsman
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