Activities of Marlene MIZZI related to 2017/2126(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Activities of the European Ombudsman in 2016 (debate)
Activities of the European Ombudsman in 2016 (debate)
Amendments (15)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital b a (new)
Recital b a (new)
ba. whereas the quality of services offered to EU citizens and responsiveness to their needs and concerns by the EU administration is crucial in protecting citizens' rights and fundamental freedoms; whereas Article 15 TFEU states that, in order to promote good governance and ensure the participation of civil society, the Union's institutions, bodies, offices and agencies shall conduct their work as openly as possible;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas in 2016 the Ombudsman opened 245 inquiries, of which 235 were complaint-based and 10 were own- initiative inquiries, while closing 291 inquiries (278 complaint-based and 13 own-initiative inquiries); whereas most inquiries concerned the Commission (58.8%), followed by the EU agencies (12.3%), the European Parliament (6.5%), EPSO (5.7 %), the EEAS (4.5 %), OLAF (0.8 %)and other institutions (11.4 %);
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the top three concerns in the inquiries closed by the Ombudsman in 2016 were: transparency and access to information and documents (29.6 %); good management of EU personnel issues (28.2 %); and culture of service (25.1 %); whereas other concerns include proper use of discretion including in infringement procedures, sound financial management of EU grants and contracts, respect for procedural and fundamental rights;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas the Ombudsman also cooperates with other international organisations, such as the United Nations and is part of the EU framework under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) tasked with protecting, promoting and monitoring the implementation of the Convention at the level of the EU institutions;
Amendment 22 #
5a. Notes that the Ombudsman's office achieved the second highest compliance rate with its decisions and/or recommendations so far; recommends to the Ombudsman to stay alert and identify reasons for non-compliance with its recommendations and to inform the European Parliament of any recurrent non-compliance cases by the EU administration;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Notes that in 2016, most of the cases handled by the Ombudsman were closed within 12 months and the average time needed to close an inquiry was 10 months, with only 30% of cases being closed after 12 or more months; urges the Ombudsman to further improve its working methods and shorten treatment of complaints, especially for cases still open after 12 months, without compromising her work efficiency;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Notes that transparency-related inquiries again account for the greatest proportion of cases in particular concerning issues related to transparency of decision-making process, lobbying transparency, access to EU documents, followed by other problems that arise in a range of issues from violation of fundamental rights to EU contracts and grants and ethical issues;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Supports the Ombudsman's recommendations for improving the current revision of the European Investment Bank Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM); Calls on the European Ombudsman to play a more active role in exercising its scrutiny over the EIB and in particular in ensuring that the new EIB- CM remains credible and efficient respecting the principles of operational independence, transparency, accessibility, timeliness and adequate resources;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes the Ombudsman’s findings of maladministration with the Code of Conduct for Commissioners; stresses the importance of high moral and ethical standards within the EU administration, and welcomes the Commission’s decision to extend the cooling-off period to two years for former Commissioners and three years for former Commission Presidents; supports the Ombudsman’s recommendations for further revision of the Code in accordance with the Treaty obligations by making the rules more explicit and easily implementable ensuring credibility, impartiality and lack of conflict of interest on a case by case basis; Encourages the Ombudsman to continue to oversee and assess the level of independence of the Commission's Ad Hoc Ethical Committee;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Welcomes the Ombudsman's practical recommendations for public officials' interaction with lobbyists; urges the Ombudsman to increase awareness about these recommendations among staff members in all EU institutions through educational training, seminars and related supportive measures and calls on all EU institutions to implement the Ombudsman's Code of Good Administrative Behaviour and the transparency measures from the UN Framework Convention for Tobacco control FCTC;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Commends the Ombudsman's work in dealing with issues of general public interest, such as fundamental rights, safety and efficiency of medicine, the protection of environment, health and environmental risks; Calls on the Ombudsman to follow up on its proposals to the European Chemicals Agency on disincentives relating to animal testing when new cosmetic products are registered on the market and to the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) on the application of principle of force majeure and transparency of EPSO competitions;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Supports the Ombudsman’s role in shaping a proactive and transparent policy regarding the clinical trials carried out by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and in particular the Ombudsman's recommendations concerning the approval of Humira, one of the world's biggest selling drugs, which is used to treat Crohn's disease; encourages the Ombudsman to continue monitoring the EMA to ensure that it meets the highest standards of transparency and access to information on clinical trials, namely standards that are in the public interest and of value to doctors, patients and researchers;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Recalls that whistle-blowers are crucial figures in unveiling cases of maladministration, and supports measures by the EU institutions to encourage whistle-blowing and protect whistle- blowers against retribution and calls on the Ombudsman to further assess implementation of the new internal whistleblowing rules in the EU institutions; reiterates its call for a directive on whistle-blowing which sets out appropriate channels and procedures for denouncing all forms of maladministration, as well as minimum adequate guarantees and legal safeguards at all levels for the individuals involved;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Recalls that the European Network of Ombudsmen could play an important role in defending EU citizens' rights in the negotiations on the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union;