kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
members should firstly be aware of this anomaly and secondly should work to improve the transparency of our workplace in order to provide an example to other democratic institutions across the eu.
lobbying in the european institutions and indeed in many member states can still sometimes resemble the wild west.
the european ombudsman exists to ensure that our citizens are listened to and last year performed that job competently receiving two six hundred and sixty seven complaints from across europe.
in this regard the ombudsman is doing a very good job in holding the commission and the other institutions to account particularly when citizens have complaints.
so this is not a lack of transparency;
i am not saying that we cannot just do more but that is at stake.
and ben hammersley a very famous journalist.
mr president i really appreciate all the interventions.
these are legitimate interests which may prevent disclosure of documents.
there is a framework within which this can be decided.
we have had good exchanges in the past and while i do not serve on the petitions committee now i keep an eye on his work.
you will be dealing with a complaint from an irish constituent of mine in your two thousand and eleven report.
mr diamandouros i think it is important to say because it is in the report that while only twenty seven of complaints were appropriate to your office you did actually deal with all of the complaints.
there are many others who when they fail to get a response from the commission do nothing at all.
this suggests that the eu institutions are taking a more proactive role in resolving complaints and enabling win win situations.
only in thirty three cases did i issue a critical remark or in one case a special report submitted to this august body.
this guide aims to direct complainants to the body best placed to help them.
there are many other ways in which the institutions and bodies of the eu can become more citizen friendly.
i note that since its launch more than sixty zero people have received advice through the guide.
next month i shall publish a report on the consultation and its outcome.
i make efforts to help every complainant who turns to the ombudsman even in cases when the complaint is not within my mandate.
to be polite helpful and cooperative in dealing with citizens willing to explain their activities and the reasoning behind the decisions taken and ready to accept public scrutiny of their conduct.
level. to conclude although it is clear to me that much has been achieved to date it is equally clear to me that there is much more work ahead for all of us ombudsmen parliament the other institutions and the european network of ombudsmen in order to enhance citizens' trust in the eu and to consolidate a culture of service in the institutions.
although regulation no one thousand and forty nine two thousand and one has been in force for ten years now it is still puzzling to observe some institutions struggling with the principle enshrined in the regulation that openness is the basic rule in the eu legal order and secrecy the exception. for my part i will continue to insist on the fundamental right of access to documents and i will continue to endeavour to raise awareness of the right to address the ombudsman and to petition parliament so that citizens can best seek redress. furthermore i believe that the eu institutions should not only react properly and in the spirit of regulation no one thousand and forty nine two thousand and one when receiving requests for access to documents but that institutions should act proactively i repeat proactively in putting documents into the public domain.
i have therefore set myself the task of drafting such a statement of public service principles which the conduct of eu officials should reflect. in order to take account of the best practices which exist in the member states i asked my national colleagues for information and their
fully. i am certain that in the years to come we will achieve much more in that direction and in so doing we shall make our modest contribution to the deepening of the rule of law and to the enhancement of the quality of democracy.
this allegation arose in thirty three of all closed inquiries and included refusal of information and access to documents.
two thousand and nine this trend confirms that more of the people turning to the european ombudsman are doing so for the right reasons.
i am pleased to note also that in two thousand and ten fifty five of all investigations were either settled by the institution or resulted in a friendly solution.
maladministration encompasses all kinds of poor or improper administrative behaviour from discrimination or other violations of fundamental rights to late payments and from publishing misleading information to failure to reply to correspondence. unlike court rulings my decisions are not legally binding. however i use the power of persuasion to achieve friendly solutions
parliament and the ombudsman both work to ensure that citizens and residents of the eu can enjoy their rights to the full but do so in different ways.
i can only conduct inquiries into complaints against eu institutions whilst you can examine what member states are doing as well. furthermore parliament as a sovereign political body can deal with petitions that request changes in the law or new laws.
they have offered me valuable support and advice in the report before you today and i am deeply grateful for that.
with which both sides that is the complainant and the european bodies concerned can be satisfied.
mr president honourable members thank you for this opportunity to address you.
in contrast my role is more specific it is to help uncover maladministration and attempt to put it right.
i note with concern that the number of transparency cases has remained depressingly and consistently high over the past few years.
in contrast to the reduction of the complaints outside my mandate the numbers of inquiries opened and closed in two thousand and ten that is three hundred and thirty five and three hundred and twenty six respectively remained roughly stable compared to.
in the other cases i issued a recommendation that was accepted by the institution thereby satisfying the complainant or i did not find an instance of maladministration.
after my intervention institutions and bodies have very often settled bills paid interest released documents remedied injustices and put an end to discrimination.
in order consistently to deliver good administration the key component of being citizen friendly institutions and bodies need to nurture a culture of service to citizens. a body that seeks to promote such a culture of service will encourage the members of its staff not only to respect good administration as a legal right but also
in addition many citizens do not know where to turn if they encounter problems either with the application of eu law in general or in the exercise of their rights whether at regional national or european
a concise statement of these and other public service principles would i believe help promote citizens' trust in the european civil service and the eu institutions.
closer cooperation between all of us engaging in systematic dialogue learning from best practices whenever and wherever they can be found allocating more resources to responding to citizens' enquiries and complaint handling are all key aspects of building trust of serving citizens and of helping them enjoy their rights more
in january two thousand and nine as just mentioned by ms iotova i launched an interactive guide on my website which is accessible in all twenty three official languages.
the number of inadmissible complaints submitted to me has since shown a significant decline. i attribute this decline at least in part to the fact that by using the interactive guide more citizens are finding the right address to turn to the first time around.
views. once that process was completed i launched a public consultation on the draft statement of public service principles earlier this year to which i have received numerous valuable contributions.
this is obviously always preferable for the complainant and the institution concerned. in two thousand and ten the most common allegation examined by the ombudsman was lack of transparency in the eu administration.
the number of critical remarks issued by my office has shown a sustained reduction in recent years.
this is a guide to help them with how to deal with complaints and therefore how to help citizens.
there are five hundred million citizens in the european union that is correct.
i suggest that the vast majority of citizens of the european union do not need to have contact with the european institutions and therefore to have complaints that will come to me primarily because the bread and butter issues that have to do with the ombudsman are at national level involving the welfare state.
this was the very first time in fifteen years i had had to do it and it regrettably had to do with the commissioner who at that time had left.
because of the substance yes but i did not submit it after it had been closed because i was addressing the procedural problem of fifteen months' delay.
i am deeply grateful for the very broad positive response that i have received. i am deeply grateful for the response that i have received concerning my efforts to promote a culture of service and for the work that i am trying to do to promote public service principles.
let me just be very clear.
many members of this body are under the assumption that the decline that has been registered in my complaints is an indication of some kind of deterioration.
i have to look into that.
this having been said commissioner let me just clarify the point concerning the special report last year. the special report came to you not because of the substance of the case but because of the failure of the commission to cooperate with me in good faith and sincerely.
but how many of them need to have contact with the european institutions is really the critical question.
this is not an indication of failed administration at that level by the commission.
we do not have issues about health education prisons police social security or retirement therefore the vast majority of the five hundred million mercifully do not need to come to me.
i can tell this body that i will be issuing a leaflet in the next month that will be addressed to every single member of the staff of the european institutions.
such a web portal is of the utmost importance to the committee if we are to increase the amount of admissible applications by our citizens.
mr president i welcome the continued efforts made by the ombudsman to improve transparency and access to information within the european institutions.
mr president there is much to praise in the clear and easily comprehensible report of the ombudsman. the different categories of alleged maladministration were defined precisely and the criteria for admissibility were explained clearly.
the word ombudsman' i am reliably told means grievance man'.
there are many grievances about the european union among british nationals but they have little to do with time limits incorrect applications of procedural rules requests for information or even that most heinous of all offences discrimination.
they concern loss of sovereignty net contributions to the budget embrace of globalism prescriptive social liberalism and the absence of referendums.
it was a russian invasion of the integral territories of georgia. therefore i am against.
in my proposal mrs rodrigues it's not a question of pointing the finger at one or other country and saying oh how good we are when the socialists are in the government;
my request is very simple please mr president put it as an additional point tomorrow with the commission and the council.
i think the scandal is so great that we cannot wait for a separate debate on wednesday afternoon.
so my request to you is that we don't wait until wednesday and that we add it to the debate on the european council tomorrow as it will be one of the points.
as regards follow up of the proposed pilot project the commission has initiated the steps necessary to adopt a commission decision in early spring.
two thousand and twenty to achieve this ambitious but also we believe realistic goal all available resources at local national and european levels will need to be mobilised and used. and of course all stakeholders have to commit themselves to integrating union law and its implementation into national and local training activities.
furthermore we aim to initiate a two week exchange programme for new judges and prosecutors as from two thousand and fourteen onwards and we undertake also to facilitate funding available for european judicial training to support high quality projects
they must commit themselves to increasing the number of judicial training activities on european law and the number of participants. member states' councils of the judiciary and legal professions must organise matters in the most optimal way so that human resources are available and training time factored
we have set as an objective that seven hundred zero legal practitioners which equates to half of the legal practitioners in the european union should have participated in training on european law by.
we made it clear firstly that stronger monitoring mechanisms are needed to measure the contribution made by cohesion policy in fighting climate change;
this was a separate amendment which was not included when negotiating the compromises. it has been the longstanding position of the uk delegation and the ecr group not to support further spending in this area.
in particular i think developments in blockchain will within a few years make all customs checks between advanced economies redundant and this is something we should greatly look forward to.
social inclusion is crucial for the harmonious growth of the eu and when i speak about inclusion i speak about minorities and vulnerable groups.
on another role the implementation of cohesion funds should not become a victim of politicisation. eu cohesion funds are not a vehicle for the european parties to achieve their short term goals.
nepotism corruption and politically motivated appointments should be absolutely excluded from our cohesion projects.
madam president i voted in favour of this report given its essential evaluation of the european union's policy objectives in this area. in particular i welcome the report's recognition of the principles of economic recovery the promotion of youth employment the fostering of innovation and smes in the sphere of entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability and climate action.
notably i also welcome the report's recommendation for the monitoring of efsi's added value and additionality thus fostering the geographical spread of the programme as we move forward.
as a matter of fact as we have heard during this debate that has not been the outcome of these eib loans and in fact it never is.
if you take that argument to the extreme you get east germany rather than west germany and north korea rather than south korea.
we have tested to its limits the idea that the state knows better than the market.
the real purpose of a bank like this is that it opens the door for us to promote projects that we happen to like.
yet the only solution we have heard today the only criticism of all the failings of the eib is to bring it under more direct political control.
in fact we politicians should learn to do less.
dear commissioner our european transport system has to stay affordable reliable and sustainable. and let me share three ideas on this firstly i think we all agree that our railway system can contribute to our shared goals. however we need to cut red tape to an enormous extent we need to unleash
competition and we need to tear down national borders. i know the commission is well aware and i know you are committed to solve this problem. but how exactly are you planning to proceed?
by. twenty five how are you going to ensure that the expenses for our citizens will say will stay the same in the future?
madam president systematic and institutional discrimination against indigenous people is alive and well and it's not confined to one continent or one field it's across the board health employment social protection on top of historic injustices that they have faced from dispossession of their lands territories and resources. so when we look at the challenges whether it's the amazon rainforest lost to flames or the catastrophe of the fires in australia indigenous people offer the world innovative solutions solving some of the biggest challenges. according to the united nations the world has an estimated three hundred and seventy million indigenous people. they make up about one third of the world's nine hundred million people in rural areas who are classified as extremely poor.
in the mainstream media and in politics their struggle for equal rights remains unheard.
indigenous women in particular suffer from multiple discrimination both as women and based on their indigenous status.
yet indigenous voices continue to be marginalised.
if we don't have this combined comprehensive approach we will continue to have these as the commissioner said unacceptable conditions within the european union.
so for my group that is not to talk again about all the chronic and severe problems of understaffing in the hotspots the risks for children under dublin and so on but to say that we need to act on longterm reception capacities on the mainland in the overcrowded hotspots to deploy additional expert staff and to provide crucial legal information to end the regime of geographical restrictions.
so i really urge colleagues to do everything they can to ensure that we solve this problem because it affects the very values of the european union we send a message to the world about what kind of european union we are.
i've been to the greek islands many times and i know that these issues affect the european union disproportionately for what they are because they define the values of the european union.
she and the commissioner explained what the elephant in the room was member state coordination is lacking. we are asking today for the commission to act this for my group is really the most important thing. i've been to the islands many times other speakers will speak of this and we need action and the commissioner prefaced this in the details that she gave.
commissioner this is my last speech after twenty years and six months!
so we ask the commission to do everything it can but of course the member states must do more this is really the elephant at the room.
now we should aim at a close comprehensive agreement on the future relationship preferably in the form of an association agreement embracing both close economic partnership and security cooperation.
this is the only thing we could do to give legal certainty to the process and we have achieved this goal. i hope most of us will endorse the consent to the council decision on the conclusion of this agreement to avoid a hard brexit. from the very beginning of this process we have been also clear that uk withdrawal is not a final destination.
of particular importance for us will be the oversight of the implementation of citizens' rights and of the irish protocol.
we know that the uk political choice has been taking back control. so yes we are aware that if the uk aims at divergence from european norms and standards it can put at risk even a bare bone fta.
we can't continue being in a stuck situation.
and at the same time we have for many years been in a politically stuck situation unable to take the necessary political decisions for a decent way to manage european migration in an orderly way and to have a decent way for solidarity that shows that we all know that we have different geographical realities.
we have in the last one and a half years spent eur thirty five million to help unaccompanied minors with hotels with guardians and we are doing a lot of things as i also said in my first intervention.
so there is high pressure on me personally but also on member states and i count on your support from parliament to find these political solutions.
those member states that are under pressure for example these people living on the islands we need to show solidarity towards the migrants but also of course to the greek people who are now paying also a very high price.
but as many of you have mentioned we have been in this situation for many years.
but i also think it's very urgent to find a political solution so that we can actually come together and find this necessary common migration and asylum policy for the european union.
we also called on monday a telephone conference among the member states.
i dare therefore say that as regards the threat to public health in europe we have sufficient expertise available to handle the situation.
let me now further outline what we have undertaken so far.
as i speak over six zero cases of coronavirus infections have been confirmed in china and southeast asia and regrettably one hundred and thirty two persons have died.
close cooperation between the council structures and preparatory bodies will enable us to reach effectively and in an appropriate manner whatever way the situation develops.
as you know we also have a specialised european agency active in this field the european centre for disease prevention and control.
what we know is that the virus causes a potentially very dangerous illness as the mortality rate of the two thousand and nineteen virus seems to be lower than the sars but it is still very high about three percentage of the cases varying with age and the incubation period during which any infected persons can infect others seems to be longer.
in the beginning victims seemed to have been infected by animals but in recent days first the chinese and then the german authorities have confirmed humantohuman transmission of the virus.
we have taken this step proactively to ensure we are prepared.
as you know the commission has the possibility and duty to assist member states in particular in cases of crossborder health threats and member states' competent authorities follow the developments very closely.
the objective at this stage is to facilitate information sharing across relevant sectors based on expert input from all eu services so as to gain a common understanding of the situation and the latest developments.
this mechanism brings together under the steer of the council presidency all relevant experts from the member states and the european union institutions such as in fields of health consular affairs and civil protection.
it is an effective tool to support a collective horizontal response covering both the european union internal and external dimension of the situation.
first i'd like to state that available data about the virus transmissibility and fatality rates should be treated with caution as the situation is still evolving.
on monday we very swiftly activated the eu's integrated political crisis response mechanism for enhanced information sharing among member states the commission and the european external action service.
it is therefore potentially a serious threat.
this increases the potential of the virus to infect a large number of people.
we are looking forward to hearing from the commission about their work which is closely linked to our efforts.
the health security committee which deals with serious crossborder threats to health and which involves all member states and the commission has already met three times to exchange information about the outbreak and will of course be involved in the further coordination of the response to this health threat.
through these coordination and facilitation efforts we are giving member states the opportunity to update and support each other on their repatriation plans.
it now provides on an almost daily basis updates about the situation.
two thousand and nineteen already on nine january the chinese authorities reported that the outbreak was caused by the novel coronavirus.
we monitor the situation in close cooperation with member states authorities eu institutions bodies and agencies and with international organisations such as the world health organisation.