Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-23-Speech-4-009"
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"en.20081023.4.4-009"2
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"Thank you, Madam President, and thank you for that reminder. During my many years of working as a judge, I have always seen to order in the court. So, Madam President and Mr Diamandouros, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to be the rapporteur for the annual Ombudsman’s report. The Ombudsman is a figure in the European institutional system whose purpose is to defend the rights of European citizens and to counter maladministration. For this reason I would like to congratulate the European Ombudsman, Mr Diamandouros, for his dedication and his professionalism, because what he does is very important for ordinary people. As Jean Monnet said, we are building Union among people, not cooperation between States.
Similarly, I have had the pleasure of working on a report that unites, rather than divides the political groups in the European Parliament. As it is clear that we have been elected to this House by the citizens of Europe to protect their interests, it is with this conviction that we also found compromises to accommodate some of the amendments tabled by the other political groups. These proposals and today’s debate are proof that the European Parliament takes this important mechanism for protecting European citizens very seriously. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, the Secretariat and all those who contributed to making this report more complete.
It is my deep conviction that it is through the institution of the European Ombudsman that citizens will be better able to exercise their rights in cases of maladministration, because even if the rules are good, it is important that they are properly applied to provide maximum protection. I believe that, just as the Commission is called the protector of treaties, the European Ombudsman is the champion of the correct implementation of Community legislation, although it is not alone in this role. The European Parliament, as the only democratically elected institution, is also called upon to uphold citizens’ rights, which makes it all the more important that Parliament and the Ombudsman work hand in hand.
The report is also important because analysing the situation as it is in the course of the year will above all help us to learn lessons and take the right decisions for the future. We should not forget that behind every complaint, behind each number in the statistics, is a human being who is expecting the right help and a solution to his or her problem. While I was working on the report, I realised that a key aspect is information. The report shows that many citizens do not yet know how to stand up for the rights given to them by the European Union when faced with maladministration. An example of this is the number of ineligible complaints – 84%. This clearly shows that the Ombudsman and the European institutions must continue in this direction together, and inform European citizens so that they can exercise their rights to the full. That is why the report also proposes a common website for lodging complaints to all the institutions, something along the lines of the interactive manual designed by the Ombudsman, where citizens who have entered the requisite data are directed to the relevant institution, to which they can then directly lodge their complaint. This will help to reduce the number of inadmissible complaints.
Apart from that, I also focussed on what guarantees there are that citizens and those permanently resident in the EU know and make use of their rights, and whether the assistance they are given is easily accessible, fair, impartial and effective. I would like to point out that there is nothing the Ombudsman can do in over 30% of cases. In my view, the Ombudsman should always explain why no action can be taken on a particular complaint, thereby making it more useful to citizens.
I would also like to point out that the Ombudsmen at national, regional and local level play a key role, and their activities should be developed.
In conclusion, I call upon you to vote for this report, because it supports constructive cooperation between the Ombudsman and the institutions and bodies of the European Union, and confirms the Ombudsman’s role as an external control mechanism and a source of constant improvement for European administration.
Thank you."@en1
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