Strasbourg – The Portuguese Teresa Anjinho was elected today as European Ombudsman, with 344 votes in favor, in a vote in the European Parliament, replacing Emily O’Reilly.
The former Portuguese deputy ombudsman was one of six candidates for the position, having been elected after two rounds of secret voting.
The Portuguese candidate had already secured the lead in the first round of voting, but did not achieve the necessary majority for election then.
In the second round, 654 MEPs participated, with a total of 603 valid votes and 51 blank.
The Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, said that the election of Teresa Anjinho represents “a very well-deserved responsibility and a great pride for Portugal.”
Teresa Anjinho succeeds Emily O’Reilly, re-elected for a second term in December 2019. The Portuguese is expected to take office in a swearing-in ceremony on February 27, 2025, at the Court of Justice of the European Union, for a five-year term.
Along with Teresa Anjinho, the Dutchman Reinier van Zutphen, who finished in second place (177 votes), followed 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) were also running for the position.
Teresa Anjinho is a specialist in human rights and a researcher, a member of the Supervisory Committee of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). Previously, she served as Secretary of State for Justice and Deputy Ombudsman of Portugal.
Created in 1995, the European Ombudsman investigates cases of maladministration in the institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies of the European Union, acting on its own initiative or in response to complaints from citizens 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 position in 1995, succeeded in 2003 by the Greek Nikiforos Diamandouros.
The current European Ombudsman, the Irish Emily O’Reilly, took office on October 1, 2013, and her mandate was renewed twice, following the European elections in 2014 and 2019.