Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-25-Speech-4-014"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071025.2.4-014"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, I am not going to repeat all of the good things that have been said, apart from to thank both our Ombudsman and Commissioner Wallström. In addition, I would like to say something that must be underlined. I am a relatively new member of the Committee on Citizens’ Complaints, as it would be better to call it. I have, to my consternation, discovered through being out in society that it is virtually only active citizens who are monitoring whether EU legislation is being respected in many places. The institutions are not doing this, and neither are the Member States. Therefore, if citizens do not do it, the whole thing will fall apart. Therefore, citizens are not only the victims of individual cases; they are indeed also active fellow players who are working to ensure that the EU’s extremely transparent system is both understandable and close to citizens.
We should also be clear that it is a perpetual battle even if we equip our instruments, i.e. the Ombudsman and the Committee on Citizens’ Complaints, with the correct tools. An attack is currently taking place on the Swedish system of openness and access to documents. We must not believe that this is a battle that we can win once and for all. We must persist and continue to persist and we will not win the battle at any point. We will win it only if we continue to have very strong tools.
Let me stress that I am very pleased with Mrs Sbarbati’s report. However, I would like to highlight the amendments that we have fortunately been able to incorporate into the report thanks to considerable support. Firstly, it is now possible for Parliament to take the Ombudsman’s cases to court if the institutions do not respect the Ombudsman. It is absolutely crucial that this can be done in reality and is not simply something that we can boast about around the world. We have the institution of the Ombudsman, we have a Committee on Citizens’ Complaints, and yet this does not mean anything other than words and yet more words. This matter is therefore of enormous significance.
The second aspect concerns the European Investment Bank. On many occasions the bank has not been as ‘nice’ as it should be. On many occasions it has acted as if it were assisting the major industries, and it is absolutely crucial that the citizens who should benefit from the bank’s activities in countries outside Europe have the opportunity to bring matters before the Ombudsman. It is really quite shocking that they are refused on the grounds that they are not EU citizens and are not able to have their say. They have been treated in a patronising and arrogant way, and I am therefore also very glad that it has now been highlighted in this report that these citizens will naturally have access to appeal to the Ombudsman.
Finally, let me say that it is important to emphasise that the Ombudsman also has competence within intergovernmental areas under the third pillar. Overall, we are taking a big step forward with this report, and I very much hope that the bodies of both the Commission and Parliament will take it seriously."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples