Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-02-Speech-3-100"
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"en.20010502.7.3-100"2
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"Mr President, I would like to congratulate the rapporteurs, Mr Cashman and Mrs Maij-Weggen without whose drive, determination and doggedness, this would not have been possible. I would like too to thank the rapporteurs of other committees for their considerable contribution. If the House approves this tomorrow, credit will be due to all of those, including Mrs Hautala, who helped in the process.
This proposed new regulation is an important milestone on the road to abolishing unnecessary secrecy in government. Other speakers have outlined its direct benefits to the citizen, but to me tomorrow's vote must mark the beginning of a change in the culture of the European institutions from secrecy to openness. Many of us would have liked wider rights and fewer exceptions. Some argued that delay would give us a better deal, but the overwhelming majority on my committee decided not to make the best the enemy of the good, believing that this proposed regulation gives us a framework for progress.
The European Parliament must now be vigilant in making sure the law is put into practice. Some external critics have attacked us for not insisting on the naked civil servant. These proposals allow public officials a fig-leaf, but little more.
I would like to thank the Presidency-in-Office, in particular, Ambassador Lund, for their willingness to grapple with this issue, to respect the deadline set by the treaties and to build a majority in Council. It is fitting that freedom of information legislation should be adopted under the presidency of a Member State which has long standing rights for citizens in this area, thanks to the farsightedness of an eminent former legislator, Mr Chydenius. Commissioner Barnier deserves the gratitude of the House for his work in the Commission.
In conclusion, it is said that only three legislatures in the world make their decisions entirely behind closed doors: one is in Havana, one is in Pyongyang, and the third is the Council of Ministers in Brussels.
We may not have broken down the doors, we may not have allowed in the TV cameras as the Swedish government once wanted, but we will shine the searchlight of public opinion into the darker corners of decision-making, in the Council, in the Commission and here in our own House."@en1
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"chairman of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs."1
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