Complaint to the European Ombudsman

The European Ombudsman is responsible for:
- handling of complaints lodged by:  
- against the EU institutions, EU bodies and EU agencies - due to non-compliance with the law and the principles of good governance and due to human rights violations.

The European Ombudsman is not responsible for:
- handling complaints against national, regional and local authorities of EU Member States, even in EU-related matters,
- handling of appeals against the Court of Justice of the EU,
- handling of complaints against individuals and persons governed by private law (companies),
- dealing with appeals that are the subject of current court proceedings or have already been decided by a court.
 
Instructions:
- the case must have an impact on the complainant,
- the appeal must be lodged within two years of the date on which the appellant became aware of the facts,
- the affected person first tries to eliminate the irregularities with the competent EU institution, EU body or EU agency by sending a letter (or by exhausting all other internal options in the case of employment relationships in EU institutions, bodies and agencies).

An appeal can be lodged in two ways:
The completed complaint must be accompanied by all necessary documents and information and a copy of the correspondence between the person concerned - the complainant and the EU institution, EU body or EU agency against which the complaint is lodged.