'If it's public money, it has to be visible'

The EU's brand new ombudsman is planning a strategic shake up of the office taking it away from being a "dumping ground" for EU staff disputes to becoming a force for good governance in an EU capital awash with secretive lobbying and 'revolving door' cases.

Emily O'Reilly is just three weeks into the job. But there is already a coincidental familiarity. She is starting her work 18 years after the post was first set up and as the first woman after two men.

In 2003, she found herse...