Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-16-Speech-4-222"
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"en.20001116.13.4-222"2
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"Mr President, in accordance with the Nordic public service tradition, the European Parliament has, positively enough, claimed that the Ombudsman's position should be strengthened and consolidated. The European Ombudsman ought to be completely impartial when carrying out his or her duties and when he or she – right now it is Jacob Söderman, a man and a good Finland-Swedish representative – defends the rights of citizens in cases of bad administration. Only in this way can the office of Ombudsman, at EU level too, serve its important and more profound purposes.
Therefore, we in the Swedish Christian Democrat Party warmly welcome the steps that are now about to be taken also to promote the Ombudsman's independence in such fundamental areas as the budget. This is an important credibility issue for the independence and impartiality of the office of Ombudsman. We in the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs have consistently given our full support to this positive measure. I would like to thank the rapporteur, Almeida Garrett, for her contribution in this important matter.
Finally, allow me to take up another topical issue which concerns the development of the office of Ombudsman. It concerns the right of access to documents without restriction, something which is only rarely utilised. This is a prerequisite for giving the institution of Ombudsman high credibility among citizens. An Ombudsman is naturally bound by secrecy provisions, but it is good for citizens to know that, as Ombudsman, he or she can obtain access to documents which they cannot access themselves as citizens.
It is also important to realise that the Ombudsman's right of access to documents has nothing to do with the current regulation on openness, which is a frequent misconception. The European Parliament, its Committee on Constitutional Affairs and, we hope, the Commission and the Council too, want to see continued development and a strengthening of the office of Ombudsman and its independence and, alongside that, its credibility among citizens."@en1
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