By Martin Banks - 16th September 2007
The EU ombudsman has taken the rare step of sending a special report to parliament, condemning the commission for not dealing with a complaint about the working time directive.
The case dates back more than five years when a German doctor asked the executive to open proceedings against Germany, alleging that it was infringing the directive as far as the work of doctors in hospitals was concerned.
In his view, the overloading of doctors and, subsequently, their inability to take minimum periods of rest they need endangers their own health as well as the provision of adequate care for patients.
Despite pressure from the ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, the commission has failed to take any action on the complaint, arguing that its proposals for amending the legislation are before member states.
However, the Strasbourg-based ombudsman said this ‘inaction’ amounts to maladministration and has now brought the case before parliament.
The Greek official said, "This case raises an important issue of principle concerning the way the commission deals with infringement complaints from citizens.
"Simply doing nothing is not in conformity with the principles of good administration."
In its response, the commission explained that it had, in September 2004, proposed changes to the directive.
It said it would examine the doctor's complaint in the light of the ongoing discussions in council.
But the ombudsman said the commission was not entitled indefinitely to postpone dealing with the complaint on the grounds that the law may be amended at some time in the future.
Despite the criticism, he welcomed ideas put forward recently by the commission that would enable complainants to play a greater role in infringement proceedings against member states.
"It is encouraging to note that the executive wants to set short deadlines for member states to provide necessary clarifications directly to complainants and to remedy breaches of EU law.”
* Since the establishment of his office in 1995, the European ombudsman has issued only 15 special reports.
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