13 Amendments of Marie-Pierre VEDRENNE related to 2022/2141(INI)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in 2021 the Ombudsman has helped 20536 people. It has opened 338 inquiries, of which 332 were complaint-based and 6 own-initiative, and closed 305 inquiries (300 complaint-based and 5 own-initiative); whereas the greater part of the inquiries concerned the Commission (208 inquiries or 61.5 %); whereas the next largest numbers concerned the European External Action Service (EEAS) (16 inquiries or 4.7 %), Parliament (13 inquiries or 3.8 %), the European Personnel Selection Office (13 inquiries or 3.8 %), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) (11 inquiries or 3.3 %), the European Medicines Agency (8 inquiries or 2.4 %), the Council of the European Union (7 inquiries or 2.1 %), the European Anti- Fraud Office (6 inquiries or 1.8 %), and other institutions (34 inquiries or 10.1 %);
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the CJEU has ruled several times that openness in the legislative process is precisely what contributes to conferring greater legitimacy on the institutions in the eyes of EU citizens and increasing their confidence in them by allowing divergences between various points of view to be openly debated; whereas the CJEU has stipulated that it is in fact a lack of information and debate which is capable of giving rise to doubts in the minds of citizens, facilitates misinformation (which is a factor in the rise of extremist populist political parties), not only as regards the lawfulness of an isolated act, but also aswith regards to the legitimacy of the entire decision- making process as a whole3 ; _________________ 3 Judgments of the Court of Justice of 1 July 2008, Sweden and Turco v Council, C-39/05 P and C-52/05 P, ECLI:EU:C:2008:374, paragraph 59, and of 22 March 2018, Emilio De Capitani v European Parliament, T-540/15, ECLI:EU:T:2018:167, paragraph 78.;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas improving citizens’ participation and ensuring transparency at EU level are key to bridging the perceived gap between the EU and, its institutions, its citizens and representative organisations, with a view to overcoming citizens’ low trust and confidence levels in EU institutions and to achieve a real multilevel democracy; whereas the Ombudsman plays a key role in bridging this gap;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Congratulates Emily O’Reilly, and her office, on their remarkable work and their constructive efforts to find a balance between the EU institutions’ right to work and the public interest in an EU administration that works with the highest standards of integrity and accountability; congratulates therm on enhancing representative and participative democracy, while improving public participation in and the legitimacy of the EU decision-making process;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognises that the work of the Ombudsman has led to positive changes within the institutions and bodies of the Union ;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Welcomes the Ombudsman's statements on trade, highlighting the European Commission's "maladministration" in negotiating the agreement with Mercosur, and its suggestions for new approaches to future negotiations ;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Strongly believes that citizens’ access to all documents of the European institutions is the basis of a participatorycontributes to an effective democracy; welcomes the Ombudsman’s efforts to improve public participation in and the legitimacy of the EU decision- making process; points out that the right to refer a matter to the Ombudsman increases citizens’ engagement with and trust in the EU institutions, as it promotes transparency and the good administration of the EU institutions and bodies;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that one of the ways to improve citizens’ perception of the EU is by making it more accessible, understandable and transparent to them; calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to guarantee full transparency; deeply regrets that despite the several calls by the Parliament and by the Ombudsman, the Council’s current work is still marred by a lack of transparency;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights that 2021 marked the twentieth anniversary of the Transparency Regulation (1049/2001)coming into force; welcomes the special focus of the Ombudsman’s Office on this matter throughout the year 2021; notes with concern that this system has shown positive effects but it could be adjusted to better adapt to technological developments that the current legislation on public access to EU documents is severely obsolete due to technological advances in access to documentation in recent decades; considers it a priority to revise the Transparency Regulation in order to place the EU at the forefront of public access to EU documents and democratic transparency for citizens; welcomes the Ombudsman’s input in relation to the Transparency Regulation and invites the Commission, the Council and the relevant committee in Parliament to take theis initiative on its revisto consideration ;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Reiterates its call for the EU institutions to ensurein particular the Council and the European Parliament to support the recommendations of the Ombudsman towards more transparency in the legislative process by that informal trilogues are more transparent by holding the meetings in public; reiterates its call also to publishalso to publish and with regards to documentation including calendars, agendas, minutes, documents examined, amendments, decisions taken, information on Member State delegations and their positions and minutes, in a standardised and easily accessible online environment, by default and without prejudice to the exemptions listed in Article 4(1) of the Transparency Regulation;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the opening of an inquiry into the Commission’s role in assessing the sustainability of gas projects listed as projects of regional significance by the Energy Community – which brings together the EU, countries in the Western Balkans, countries in the Black Sea Region, and Norway – as the gas projects might not have been covered by an adequate sustainability assessment before being included on the list; recalls that these projects were evaluated according to a methodology formerly used by the Commission for its list of Projects of Common Interest, which is currently inadequate and no longer used; considers that, particularly in the current geopolitical energy context, energy projects promoted or financed by the EU should be evaluated in the most transparent, consistent and participative way possible;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Emphasises the importance of the adoption of an updated statute for the Ombudsman’s Office in June 2021; recalls that the new statute codifies many of the Office’s working practices over recent years; welcomes the fact that the revised statute provides a strengthened legal framework for the Office and introduces new safeguards that further guarantee its independence; strongly believes that the Office of the Ombudsman must be awarded an increasedhave a sufficient budget to provide it with the necessary resources to effectively handle the overall workload and ensure it is able to continue to work competently at the service of European citizens;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Congratulates the Ombudsman for expanding the role of the European Network of Ombudsmen (ENO) in capacity building and the sharing of best practices; between European Member States ;congratulates the ENO for organising targeted webinars focused on different topics including artificial intelligence and e-government in public administrations; Frontex’s complaints mechanism and the monitoring of forced returns; and institutional care, the use of EU funds and lessons from the COVID- 19 pandemic;