The European Ombudsman co-operates closely with various networks to ensure that citizens' complaints about EU law issues are dealt with promptly and effectively.

Many complainants contact the Ombudsman when they have problems with a national, regional, or local administration. These fall outside the Ombudsman's mandate, and often concern alleged infringements of EU law by Member States. National or regional ombudsmen within the European Network of Ombudsmen are best placed to handle many such cases. The European Parliament's Committee on Petitions is also a full member of the Network. One of the purposes of the Network is to facilitate the rapid transfer of complaints to the competent member of the Network, be it anational or regional ombudsman, a similar body, or the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions.

The Network now comprises almost 100 offices in 36 European countries. It includes the national and regional ombudsmen and similar bodies of the Member States of the EU, the candidate countries for EU membership, and other countries in the European Economic Area, as well as the European Ombudsman and the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions.

The Network serves as a useful mechanism for exchanging information on EU law and best practice through seminars, a biannual (now quarterly electronic) newsletter, and a discussion and document-sharing Extranet forum.

The 2014 discussions mainly centred on the role of ombudsmen in the investigation of complaints from military staff; lawsuits brought against ombudsman institutions by citizens, in the event they were dissatisfied with those institutions' response to their complaints; and bilingual education for children from national minorities.117

The Network held two seminars during the year. In June, the European Ombudsman and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (UK) jointly organised the Network's Ninth Regional Seminar. It took place in Cardiff and discussed: "Ombudsmen and committees on petitions: voices of the voiceless". The main areas examined were: promoting the rights of younger people; an ageing population; persons with disabilities; and the right to high quality health and social care. Two months earlier, the European Ombudsman had organised the Network's Ninth Liaison Seminar in Strasbourg. It examined ways to improve the services that the European Ombudsman's office provides to the Network; how to increase the Network's visibilitYi impact, and relevance; social media's role in increasing the Network's visibility; and the role of ombudsmen as guardians of transparency and access to information.

In some cases, the Ombudsman may consider it appropriate to transfer a complaint to the European Commission, to SOLVIT, or to Your Europe Advice. SOLVIT is a network set up by the Commission to help people who face obstacles when trying to exercise their rights in the Union's internal market. Your Europe Advice is another EU-wide network that the Commission established to advise citizens on their life, work, and travel in the EU. Before transferring a complaint or advising the complainant, the Ombudsman's services make every effort to determine which other office is best suited to help.

The Ombudsman's Problems with the EU? Who can help you? publication contains more information on alternative means of redress.