Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-06-Speech-4-021"
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"en.20000706.3.4-021"2
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"Mr President, the right to petition and to complain is not some recent invention. Even 2000 years ago petitioners could put their concerns before the Roman emperor. But this right was always in danger of being changed, restricted or abolished. Yesterday’s petitioners have become today’s responsible European citizens. No administration or institution is infallible. Many petitions point to a discrepancy between the legal provisions and European integration. So petitions are a gauge for the relations between the citizens and the legislator and there are many levels of petitions. A population of hamsters in an industrial area is of just as much concern to us as the ban on silicon implants or the introduction of a heavy goods tax.
I turn now to the Ombudsman. My group congratulates the Ombudsman on the work he accomplished in 1999. It was, and is, to Mr Söderman’s credit that he has done so much to create greater transparency and openness within the European administrations. Since most of the complaints in the Ombudsman’s remit relate to the European Commission and concern a lack of transparency, work needs to be done to improve this situation. That includes access to documents, not only for the citizens of Europe but also for the Ombudsman.
New office technologies cannot be used as grounds for the lack of transparency either. Comprehensible, substantiated replies to the citizens create trust, the opposite gives rise to distrust and a rising number of complaints that need to be dealt with, which therefore in turn creates costs. The Ombudsman’s proposal for a Code of Good Administrative Behaviour is particularly welcome. The citizens have a basic right to an open and responsible administration geared to providing services, since after all it is paid for out of their taxes.
In my view it is most important for the European Ombudsman to play an independent role, which can serve as an example for the introduction of national ombudsmen in the candidate countries and in my
of Thüringen."@en1
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