Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (8th parliamentary term – July 2014)

Rule 219 - Election of the Ombudsman
‘1. At the start of each parliamentary term, immediately after his election or in the cases referred to in paragraph 8, the President shall call for nominations for the office of Ombudsman and set a time-limit for their submission. A notice calling for nominations shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
2. Nominations must have the support of at least 40 Members who are nationals of at least two Member States. Each Member may support only one nomination. Nominations shall include all the supporting documents needed to show conclusively that the nominee fulfils the conditions required by the Regulations on the Ombudsman.
3. Nominations shall be forwarded to the committee responsible, which may ask to hear the nominees. Such hearings shall be open to all Members.
4. A list of admissible nominations in alphabetical order shall then be submitted to the vote of Parliament.
5. The vote shall be held by secret ballot on the basis of a majority of the votes cast. If no candidate is elected after the first two ballots, only the two candidates obtaining the largest number of votes in the second ballot may continue to stand. In the event of any tie the oldest candidate shall be appointed.
6. Before opening the vote, the President shall ensure that at least half of Parliament's component Members are present.
7. The person elected shall immediately be called upon to take an oath before the Court of Justice.
8. The Ombudsman shall exercise his duties until his successor takes office, except in the case of his death or dismissal.‘
Rule 220 - Activities of the Ombudsman
‘1. The decision on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties and the provisions implementing that decision as adopted by the Ombudsman are annexed to these Rules of Procedure25 for information.
2. The Ombudsman shall, in accordance with Article 3(6) and (7) of the abovementioned decision, inform Parliament of cases of maladministration, on which the committee responsible may draw up a report. The Ombudsman shall also, in accordance with Article 3(8) of that decision, submit a report to Parliament at the end of each annual session on the outcome of his inquiries. The committee responsible shall draw up a report thereon which shall be submitted to Parliament for debate.
3. The Ombudsman may also provide the committee responsible with information at its request, or be heard by it on his own initiative.‘
Rule 221 - Dismissal of the Ombudsman
‘1. One tenth of Parliament's component Members may request the Ombudsman's dismissal if he no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of his duties or is guilty of serious misconduct.
2. The request shall be forwarded to the Ombudsman and to the committee responsible, which, if it decides by a majority of its members that the reasons are well founded, shall submit a report to Parliament. If he so requests, the Ombudsman shall be heard before the report is put to the vote. Parliament shall, following a debate, take a decision by secret ballot.
3. Before opening the vote, the President shall ensure that half of Parliament's component Members are present.
4. If the vote is in favour of the Ombudsman's dismissal and he does not resign accordingly the President shall, at the latest by the part-session following that at which the vote was held, apply to the Court of Justice to have the Ombudsman dismissed with a request for a ruling to be given without delay. Resignation by the Ombudsman shall terminate the procedure.‘