Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-16-Speech-4-020"
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"en.20061116.2.4-020"2
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"Mr President, I wish to thank Mr Diamandouros for his report, and Mr Schwab for the report we are debating today. I share his concerns that it is a little late in the day to be debating this issue, but I suppose it is better late than never!
The Ombudsman is the watchdog of the system. I would prefer to think of him as a Rottweiler, which is what we need, rather than a tamer breed! My Irish colleagues will giggle at the ‘Rottweiler’ description because politically speaking we have one of those in our national parliament.
The Ombudsman has an important role to play and I do not share the concerns of those who maintain that 70% of complaints fall outside his remit. As others have said, this reflects the fact that there is a huge amount of frustration and people need somewhere to turn. It is important to underline that. I am pleased that the Ombudsman, in his wisdom, does not turn them away, but actually assists them. He should continue to do that. Others might not agree, but that is part of his job, and we need that flexibility.
I compliment the Ombudsman for trying to promote his work. There is an onus on all of us in this House to help him in that regard, even if I regard my own office – and I think other colleagues feel similarly – as a one-stop shop. At the end of the day, I hope MEPs are the first port of call for citizens who have problems. Mrs Wallis’ proposal to set up a one-stop shop is a good one, but let us not forget that we as elected representatives are also here to obtain information for citizens.
The Ombudsman should bear in mind that we in this House often experience as much frustration as the public when it comes to getting information from the Commission. There is a duty on administrators to see themselves as servants of the public and not as protectors of the system. If necessary, we will have to train people and change their culture. I would be interested to know whether the Ombudsman has looked into the attitudes of those who are at the root of problems. In other words, in the complaints he has upheld, is a bad attitude evident among administrators? If so, we should do something about that.
I wish to thank all those involved again, and I hope the Ombudsman’s workload increases exponentially, as it should."@en1
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