Teresa Anjinho, a human rights lawyer who previously served as Portugal’s deputy ombudsman, has gained MEPs’ support to succeed Ireland’s Emily O’Reilly probing maladministration in the EU bureaucracy.
Portugal’s Teresa Anjinho was on Tuesday elected EU ombudsman, after fending off competition from five other rivals to gain support from members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
She’ll succeed Emily O’Reilly, the Irishwoman who has for over a decade been responsible for probing maladministration in EU bodies such as the European Commission.
At a 3 December hearing with MEPs, Anjinho pledged to “ensure that our EU administration adheres to the highest standards of transparency, ethics and upholds the rights of European citizens.”
The principles of “fairness, integrity and trust … are crucial to strengthen the bond between institutions and their citizens,” she added.
The second and final round of voting on Tuesday saw Anjinho gain an absolute majority of 344 MEPs, avoiding the need for a third round run-off with the second-place candidate.
In second place came Dutch ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen, followed by Estonian supreme court judge Julia Laffranque.
