Strasbourg – The Portuguese Teresa Anjinho was elected immediately as European Ombudsman, with 344 votes in favor, in a vote within the European Parliament, changing Emily O’Reilly.
The previous Portuguese deputy ombudsman was one among six candidates for the place, having been elected after two rounds of secret voting.
The Portuguese candidate had already secured the lead within the first spherical of voting, however didn’t obtain the mandatory majority for election then.
Within the second spherical, 654 MEPs participated, with a complete of 603 legitimate votes and 51 clean.
The Portuguese Minister of State and Overseas Affairs, Paulo Rangel, stated that the election of Teresa Anjinho represents “a really well-deserved duty and an ideal delight for Portugal.”
Teresa Anjinho succeeds Emily O’Reilly, re-elected for a second time period in December 2019. The Portuguese is anticipated to take workplace in a swearing-in ceremony on February 27, 2025, on the Courtroom of Justice of the European Union, for a five-year time period.
Together with Teresa Anjinho, the Dutchman Reinier van Zutphen, who completed in second place (177 votes), adopted by the candidate Julia Laffranque from Estonia (47 votes); the Austrian Claudia Mahler (15 votes), and the Italians Marino Fardelli (14 votes) and Emilio De Capitani (six votes) have been additionally operating for the place.
Teresa Anjinho is a specialist in human rights and a researcher, a member of the Supervisory Committee of the European Anti-Fraud Workplace (OLAF). Beforehand, she served as Secretary of State for Justice and Deputy Ombudsman of Portugal.
Created in 1995, the European Ombudsman investigates circumstances of maladministration within the establishments, our bodies, workplaces, and businesses of the European Union, performing by itself initiative or in response to complaints from residents of the member states that make up the European bloc.
The European Ombudsman was established by the Maastricht Treaty (1992), with the Finnish Jacob Söderman inaugurating the place in 1995, succeeded in 2003 by the Greek Nikiforos Diamandouros.
The present European Ombudsman, the Irish Emily O’Reilly, took workplace on October 1, 2013, and her mandate was renewed twice, following the European elections in 2014 and 2019.
