Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-25-Speech-4-011"
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"en.20071025.2.4-011"2
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"Madam President, I would like to start by thanking Mr Diamandouros and Ms Wallström for their presentations and Ms Sbarbati for her excellent report.
The Lisbon Treaty just agreed opens the door to the European Union’s exit from a long-standing phase whereby its ability to function effectively on behalf of its citizens has been held back. We have a long-needed institutional system that works more effectively, but it also opens the door to so much more.
I welcome the solemn proclamation of the Charter of the Presidents of the Institutions that will be made on 12 December. The inclusion of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as part of the legal order in the European Union will allow for the Union to begin to work on more effective, transparent and democratic foundations. European citizens expect, and will continue to expect, that the Union’s institutions will act in accordance with its basic principles: with the Charter, and with efficiency, effectiveness and openness.
The European Ombudsman is one vital part of the democratic structure and functioning of the Union. The largest proportion of the Ombudsman’s enquiries concern lack of transparency. This is an area of our activities that we must improve if we are to become more credible in the eyes of the citizens. I am delighted with the work of the Ombudsman, as explained in his annual report and in his speech. He took a number of important decisions during 2006, including, not least, on the choice of the languages used in the websites of the European Presidencies of the Council, on inaccurate and misleading information contained in leaflets, posters and video presentations on air passenger rights produced by the Commission, and on access to the audit report of the European Investment Bank.
It is important that we support the work of the Ombudsman, as well as the work of the Committee on Petitions, as it is through handling complaints and petitions on EU matters from citizens that we can find out what is not working well at European level and take corrective measures. Cases being brought to the Ombudsman and the Committee on Petitions are of increasing complexity and therefore require a greater investment of resources by the institutions, in order that the citizens’ concerns are properly addressed.
In this context I would like to remind Members of Paragraph 2 of Ms Sbarbati’s report: ‘Calls for all European institutions and bodies to be given the necessary budgetary and human resources to ensure that citizens receive prompt and substantive responses to their enquiries, complaints and petitions’. There will be no better way of putting the Charter of Fundamental Rights into practice than taking this on board, and I call on all the institutions and bodies to give priority to the interests of the citizens in this respect."@en1
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