STRASBOURG, France, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Emily O'Reilly from Ireland was appointed the European Ombudsman in a secret plenary vote of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

　　O'Reilly beat her rival, Dutch MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten, with 359 votes against Oomen-Ruijten's 276 in a run-off contest.

　　O'Reilly currently serves as Ireland's first female Ombudsman and will become the first female European Ombudsman in October, taking over from Nikiforos Diamandouros, who has been in office for a decade.

　　Established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, the European Ombudsman has been tasked with investigating citizens' complaints on maladministration of EU institutions, including lack of transparency and refusal to provide information.

　　"It is important that the people of Europe understand their rights as EU citizens, including the right to complain to the Ombudsman," the European Commission's vice president Maros Sefcovic said upon O'Reilly's election.