One part of the complaint was about a request by the EACEA to the ACC to reimburse 2364 €. The gravity of this case was due to the fact that there was no coherent explanation to the request. This request was withdrawn soon after the Ombudsman started questioning the case.
“We could maybe have collected the amount one time, but the fact that there was no explanation to the request was unacceptable in the long run,” explains Chairman John Petersen.
The second consequence relates to another part of the complaint. ACC wanted the EU Commission to cover their share of the travel costs of the Transylvania Community College 2003. With the decision of the European Ombudsman eight years of struggling has come to an end. ACC will finally get the amount.
A milestone in European NGO history?
The European Ombudsman’s decision will probably be of interest to other organisations. Among more things the Ombudsman recalls the reading of the Code of Good Administrative Behavior.
Vice chairperson Conchi Gallego who has a long record in the European NGO world estimates: “I think the European organisations will carefully read the Ombudsman’s decision. Maybe more organisations will complain now, because after all it is in everybody’s interest to make the rules better known. I think some will be inspired and try their cases.”
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