Mr President, I hope the rapporteur will not mind if I say that this is a relatively obscure report that we are taking fairly late on a Thursday evening and that it goes right to the very heart of democracy in the European Union: How do we protect the rights of European citizens? There is no doubt that in that role the position of Ombudsman is absolutely critical. The Ombudsman has a distinctive role and position in the framework of the European institution, but it is a role that requires autonomy. As we all know, if you are to be independent you need to have financial independence. In English we have a phrase: 'He who pays the piper calls the tune.' Those who pay for activities or organisations are generally seen to wield some power over those activities or organisations. That is why the Ombudsman needs to be financially autonomous and as independent as possible so that we in this Parliament cannot be accused of calling the tune. The public need to have the utmost confidence that the Ombudsman is completely impartial in his investigations. I, of course, like all Members of this Parliament, have total confidence that Mr Jacob Söderman discharges his responsibilities totally independently but that must be seen to be the case. That is why financial autonomy is necessary. It is perhaps also worth pointing out to European citizens that the Ombudsman's office – not him personally – costs something like EUR 3.9 million a year or less than one cent per person in the European Union. To my English listeners that is roughly half a penny per annum and that is money well spent. Thanks to the initiative taken by the Chairman of the Committee on Petitions, Mr Gemelli, the correct legal action has been taken to amend the 1994 decision by the European Parliament on the Ombudsman's competencies and duties. As a result of this, the Petitions Committee, in the González Álvarez report, said that the procedure to amend the Ombudsman's statute should be seen in the light of Article 195 of the European Communities Treaty. Let us never forget that the role of the Ombudsman is one that is enshrined in the European treaties. The EPP/ED Group supports the view of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs that the Ombudsman's competences should be enlarged and the sooner the better, especially in the fields of the Ombudsman's investigative powers laid down in Article 3 of the 1994 decision. The quality of the Ombudsman's actions taken so far proves that the institution of the Ombudsman is growing as a full and necessary instrument for European citizens to submit complaints of maladministration by European institutions. We in my group appreciate the Ombudsman's support for the Petitions Committee, the committee that is responsible for relations between the Ombudsman and Parliament. In this respect the EPP/ED Group encourages the Ombudsman to continue his work through his special reports which we are always ready to consider in a positive spirit of cooperation with the Ombudsman. I hope that in the very near future Parliament will consider enhancing the Ombudsman's investigative powers. If that happens, the Petitions Committee would expect to be fully and carefully consulted by the Constitutional Affairs Committee. We are, as I have already said, the committee with responsibility for relations with the Ombudsman and we work closely with him. The EPP/ED Group supports this report therefore and hopes that this, along with the Bösch report on the Ombudsman's report on recruitment procedures, is a sign of the European Parliament's continued commitment to increasing transparency and accountability. We do not need extra work and we do not want to see examples of maladministration, but it is important that we remind European citizens that the office of Ombudsman is there to help them if problems of maladministration arise. A lot of people unfairly criticise us for the democratic deficit. The Ombudsman's office certainly helps to redress that democratic deficit.

Political group: PPE-DE