Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-16-Speech-4-010"
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"en.20061116.2.4-010"2
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"Mr President, first I would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Schwab, for his work on the European Ombudsman’s report on his activities in 2005. This is an important report from Parliament on the general principles, the state of play and future development of cooperation between the Ombudsman and other EU institutions.
I would also like to congratulate the Ombudsman, Mr Diamandouros, on his annual report. I am happy, as always, to hear Mr Diamandouros confirm his commitment to ensuring the highest standards of administration in the European institutions, and that is a commitment the Commission shares.
I entirely support Mr Schwab in his endorsement of the role of the Ombudsman as an external monitoring mechanism for sound administration. Through his work, the Ombudsman contributes to the promotion of good administration. I am convinced that, through their cooperation with the Ombudsman, EU institutions are helped in fostering a citizen-oriented approach to their daily work. That means ensuring greater transparency of the EU decision-making process and working to develop best practices to meet citizens’ expectations and safeguard their rights. This is about bridging the gap between institutions and EU citizens.
I would like to comment on three specific points in the report. Firstly, I think that the cooperation between the Ombudsman and the Commission has developed well in recent years. As pointed out in the report, the Commission uses a new internal procedure empowering each Commissioner to adopt and transmit communications to the Ombudsman. I am happy that both the Ombudsman and Mr Schwab welcome this innovation in their reports. In addition, the Commission has adapted its internal rules to speed up the handling of its replies to the Ombudsman. The Commission will continue to develop its cooperation with the Ombudsman.
The rapporteur suggests that a similar empowering procedure be introduced for the handling of petitions. While the Commission will continue to work closely with the Committee on Petitions, that is not a possibility that the Commission envisages. The Committee on Petitions and the European Ombudsman have distinct roles, each with its own value to citizens.
Secondly, the report mentions the Europa website. It is one of the most visited websites in the world and it has become quite complex to navigate. It is in that light that the Commission is well on its way towards refurbishing its own part of the Europa portal. The ultimate objective is to transform the Europa website into a more user-friendly, well-structured and coherent web portal. It will be multilingual at appropriate levels and the presentation will be more oriented to citizens and communication.
Thirdly, and finally, the decision to revise the Ombudsman’s statute rests with the European Parliament, with the approval of the Council. The Commission is, however, consulted and closely follows developments relating to the proposal, including those in the committees concerned. The Commission is currently examining the proposal in detail, and has been in contact with the Ombudsman’s office to seek clarification on some aspects of the proposal.
In conclusion, I understand that next year the Ombudsman intends to include a few star cases in his annual report. These are, as I understand it, cases where the handling of complaints by the EU institutions has been exemplary, regardless of whether maladministration occurred. I think that is an excellent initiative and I also look forward to seeing next year’s report."@en1
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