Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-12-Speech-4-038"
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"en.20091112.5.4-038"2
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"Mr President, let me begin by thanking very warmly all the Members of Parliament who have made very constructive and very positive remarks about the work of the Ombudsman. I deeply appreciate this. I also thank those that have made constructive critical remarks about the work of the Ombudsman. That is exactly what I am here for: to learn from your suggestions and your criticisms so as to be able to carry forward the work of the Ombudsman, the better to serve citizens in the future.
So the resources that are being expended by the Ombudsman to serve citizens go far beyond merely the number of complaints that are handled, and I would like this august body to bear that in mind. I am sure that most of you do know this, but I just want to make that clarification.
Lastly allow me, since this is the last time that I will address this body during this current mandate, to express from this position my sincere thanks to all the interpreters for the work they have done for me for the past five years.
Let me say very briefly that the major concerns that I understand you to have expressed have to do with the need for greater transparency and, if re-elected, I will certainly try to redouble my efforts to promote transparency and good administration, for which I feel primarily responsible in the Union.
The Lisbon Treaty opens up all sorts of new possibilities, and I certainly intend to make the maximum use of the opportunities allowed me by the treaty, again in order to serve citizens better, cooperating at all times with Parliament’s Committee on Petitions and with this august body.
Having said that, I would also briefly like to thank Commissioner Wallström for her work, for her comments and warm words of support, and to repeat and confirm the fact that, as the Commission comprises 66% of the Union’s entire civil service, it is inevitable that most complaints will be brought against the Commission. That is certainly the case.
Let me address the issues which were brought forward by Mr Boştinaru and Mr Czarnecki on the issue of greater cooperation with national ombudsmen, particularly also beyond the EU’s borders. There are two points here. I certainly have sustained contacts with all the ombudsmen from the candidate countries, who are beyond the EU borders in that sense. Beyond that, I have very close cooperation with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, who has been designated by his institution as the point of contact for all the ombudsmen within the Council of Europe.
My own feeling is that, were I to go beyond that point, I would be entering into the area of international relations contacts, which in fact are the pre-eminent domain of the Commission, so I tried to strike a balance in that area. However, I am acutely aware of the need for greater cooperation in all areas and I try to achieve it.
On the amount of time that it takes to resolve cases, touched on by Mrs Göncz, let me just say that we have now been able to reduce the time very significantly, and on average more than 50% – about 55% – of all cases are now closed in less than a year or in about 12 months. If you bear in mind that we need to work in 23 languages, which requires a great deal of translation, I think this is not an excessive time. I am giving you an average, because the simple cases are usually resolved in about three or four months; I just wanted to clarify that point.
Let me, in her absence, thank and applaud Mrs Harkin’s position of support for my position concerning greater transparency, even in what are perhaps difficult situations, if I may put it thus.
In response to Mr Vlasák’s comments about the Ombudsman, I take these comments very much to heart. But let me point out that the Ombudsman should not be judged only in terms of the number of complaints or inquiries that he handles. We handle more than 11 000 requests for information in addition to complaints each year. I travel extensively throughout the Member States at all times. During my mandate, I have made more than 350 trips throughout the Union, and also have reached out to all sorts of constituencies and spoken in large numbers of areas."@en1
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