Strasbourg, 27/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the report by the Welsh member Eurig Wyn (Greens/EFA) on the annual report of the European Ombudsman, the European Parliament praises Jacob Soederman for his work and the remarkable way in which he set the framework of the job of Ombudsman. It also welcomes the continued development of the network of national and regional ombudsmen which has gradually extended to countries candidates for enlargement. Parliament urges Community institutions and bodies to implement the 2001 regulation and recognise access to documents as a fundamental right in compliance with Article 42 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It provides its support to the Ombudsman's decision to ask the European Convention to amend the infringement procedure provided for by Article 226 of the treaty to ensure its compatibility with better account being taken of petitions. It calls on the Commission to reconsider its position regarding altering the statute of the Ombudsman regarding the obligation to forward information to national ombudsmen and the limits defended by the Commission as to the rights and duties of civil servants and other agents of testifying at the Ombudsman's request.
Parliament also adopted the report by the Greek Socialist, Ioannis Koukiadis on the work of the Committee on Petitions. It considers that the European Convention should examine strengthening the right to petition and implementation of a uniform code of good administrative practice. The Convention should also examine the possibility for citizens to initiate reforms of Community legislation through petitions addressed to the European Parliament. Parliament would also like to develop co-operation with the committees on petitions of national parliaments. Other than a review of the inter-institutional agreement of 1989 to promote better co-operation between the Council and Commission in dealing with petitions, Parliament is in favour, notably, of the introduction of interim measures of protection of a suspensive nature for activities undertaken by national and local authorities should they breach Community provisions and consequently cause irreparable harm to the environment or cultural goods.
To those "who say that the public at large is not yet aware enough of the work of the Ombudsman," Jacob Soederman replied in Thursday's debate that, the increase in the number of complaints ("we now receive 200 new complaints a month") was proof that citizens were aware of his work. The Ombudsman recalled three of his main concrete proposals: guarantee public access to the documents of the institutions, introduce a code of good administrative conduct common to all EU bodies, render the Charter of Fundamental Rights binding. He did, however, regret that the Commission should have rejected his proposal relating access to data and that "there is an abuse of the rule of data protection". Furthermore, "the European Parliament's resolution relating to good administrative conduct has not been followed up by the Commission", he deplored. Eurig Wyn praised Mr. Soederman for "his effort at information" and relayed the Ombudsman's criticisms as to the lack of Commission follow-up over the code of good administrative conduct, while pleading in favour of greater transparency in the complaint submission procedure. Ioannis Koukiadis, for his part, praised the work of the Committee on Petitions which "enables us to know the expectations of European citizens".
However, he warned that its very success and the increase in complaints and petitions that result from it, pose a problem, especially in the area of enlargement. Listing the main themes of the petitions (environmental problems, double taxation, recognition of qualifications), the MEP is requesting more co-operation with national mediators. Erkki Liikanen responded to the criticism of good administrative conduct by asserting that the Commission, "was immediately very receptive to this idea and adopted its own code of good conduct incorporating the many provisions of the code proposed by the Ombudsman" (and announcing the imminent publication of the first assessment report on this code). Whilst recognising that the current system is far from perfect, as, "the citizen is confronted by the institutions for which each has their own way of working", Mr Liikanen indicated that, "the Commission is currently not ready to begin legislative proceedings on the matter" and prefers to wait for the results on the work of the European Convention. As for access to documents, he declared that, "relations between the Commission and the Ombudsman are cordial although we have very different opinions on some points, such as access to documents".
Robert Goebbels requests the integration of the work o the Ombudsman into the Petitions Committee
Luxembourg Socialist, Robert Goebbels has asserted in a letter to President Cox that although the European Parliament is preparing to appoint a new European Ombudsman in 2003, "the reading of the current Ombudsman's 2001 annual report, of which I do not doubt his good faith at all, leads me to conclude that the EU, on the eve of the revision of the Treaties, would find it advantageous to reflect upon the intrinsic usefulness of this institution". Mr Goebbels points out that in 2001, out of the 204 complaints that led to investigations, the Ombudsman's report only shows, "that 13 decisions observing cases of bad administration, as well as 2 special reports addressed to the European Parliament". Mr Goebbels notes that it is, "of course impossible to operate a cost-effective analysis of a democratic institution" and considers that in view of the "meagre results", it is, "difficult to claim that this function corresponds to the crucial expectations of all European citizens". Mr Goebbels points out that the Ombudsman himself, "advised the 167 plaintiffs to address a petition to the European Parliament" and therefore the integration o the Ombudsman's role in the Petition's Committee, which would avoid either the Ombudsman or the Committee sending each other complaints and petitions. The European Convention is also expected to be encouraged to give further reflection to the reform of the treaties in the area of " petition mediation ", emphasised Mr Goebbels.