Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-25-Speech-4-031"
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"en.20071025.2.4-031"2
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"Madam President, first of all I wish to thank Ms Sbarbati, the rapporteur for my Annual Report for 2006 at this year’s plenary. I also wish to thank the very large number of Members who, in fact, took the time to comment on my report. I am deeply grateful for the interest that this expresses and the guidance that it contains.
With respect to Ms Sbarbati, let me just say that I of course worked very closely and intend to continue to work very closely with the Petitions Committee, with which I have excellent relations. The Petitions Committee and the Ombudsman will continue to be the major instrument through which this august body will also be able to deal with citizens’ approaches to the European institutions. I take note of your remarks. I can tell you that I have already launched an own-initiative inquiry concerning EPSO, as you know, but I want to announce it to this body. I also have taken a strong interest and continue to monitor very carefully developments in the European schools.
I wish to thank Ms Wallström for her remarks. I note that she has recorded the increase in the number of cases where the Commission apologises for instances in which its services have not abided by best practice. I am very grateful to her for acknowledging that. I will be meeting with Ms Wallström in the near future, and I will also be meeting with the Directors-General of the Commission and the coordinators of all the services dealing with the Ombudsman, precisely in order to be able to bring about better coordination and better results. This is an indication of how closely I am working with the Commission, and I hope to be able to elicit better results to report to you next year, and of course to report to citizens. That includes the infringement, and I will be dealing with that as well.
On a more general point, let me just say that I am very grateful to you for your general support on broad issues like the culture of service, which is very central to my concerns; for your references to the need for more resources for the Ombudsman; for your support on the issue of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and of the Statute; and for your call for greater accountability, which for me of course is extraordinarily important. I can also let you know that I have launched, as of this year, a concerted effort to reach out to business associations as opposed to individuals, with an eye to better informing them of their rights as well.
Because of the pressure of time, allow me not to switch languages, but first of all to say to Ms McGuinness and also to Ms Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, that I manage to help 70% of the 70% that are outside my mandate. Therefore, my work involves not only the percentage that is within my mandate, but on top of that there is a great deal of effort being expended by my staff to be able to help every single citizen who comes to us whose concern is outside the mandate, by referring to the appropriate institution, be it at European or national level. Therefore, this covers 3 830 cases, not 885.
Allow me now to switch languages.
Mrs Panayiotopoulos, I want to assure you that the European Ombudsman is fully aware of his obligation to work within the legal limits. He will, of course, always work according to the basic principle of accountability to Parliament and to you, and at all times he will be acutely aware of his responsibility.
Lastly, I am doing all I can to promote the creation of a national ombudsman in Italy. I have been there four or five times and I will continue to do so, hoping that we will be able to welcome an Italian national ombudsman into our midst in the near future."@en1
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