BETA

19 Amendments of Agnès EVREN related to 2021/2167(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas Articles 20, 24 and 228 TFEU and Article 43 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union empower the European Ombudsman to receive complaints concerning instances of maladministration in the activities of the Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, with the exception of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) acting in its judicial role;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas the top three concerns in the inquiries closed by the Ombudsman in 2020 were transparency, accountability (access to information and documents) (25 %), culture of service (24 %) and proper use of discretionary powers, including in infringement procedures (17 %); whereas other concerns include ethical issues in the EU administration, respect for fundamental rights, sound financial management, whistleblowing, respect for procedural rights, recruitment and good management of EU personnel issues;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

E. whereas the Ombudsman plays a key role in ensuring ~~the full~~ transparency, in the EU institutions and bodies and the democratic accountability and integrity of the EU decision-making processes;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas the EU has planned a period of unprecedented levels of spending and investment under NextGenerationEU, which will also create significant links with the private sector, therefore making it even more crucial for the EU institutions to have a decision-making process founded on ~~full~~ transparency and on the most stringent ethical rules in order to prevent conflicts of interest and corruption cases;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Recital P

P. whereas the Ombudsman found instances of maladministration in the decision by the European Banking Authority (EBA) to approve the job move of its then Executive Director as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), a lobby organisation for the financial industry, failing to mitigate the risks of conflicts of interest, as well as continuing to give him access to confidential information; whereas the EBA took the requisite measures, enabling the Ombudsman to close the inquiry;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Recital Q

Q. whereas the Commission’s strategy in dealing with petitions refers to its 2016 Communication entitled ‘EU law: Better results through better application’, whose rules establish no administrative procedure or practice concerning petitions; whereas the Commission’s approach, resulting in its systematic refusal to take action on individual petition issues and on petitions concerning areas under Article 6 TFEU can amount to maladministration;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Recalls that the European Ombudsman can make recommendations, proposals for solutions and suggestions for improvement with a view to solving a problem in cases of maladministration; notes that where a complaint falls outside the Ombudsman's mandate, the Ombudsman may advise the complainant to refer it to another authority or to the Committee on Petitions; notes that in 2020 the Ombudsman received more than 1 400 complaints which did not fall within her mandate, mainly because they did not concern activities related to the EU administration;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Notes that the Ombudsman's work has led to positive changes in the EU institutions and bodies;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Calls on the Ombudsman to ~~adopt strengthened oversight of the implementation of the rules and procedures concerning the allocation and use of EU funds under NextGenerationEU to~~ protect Union citizens’ rights against possible conflicts of interest and corruption cases, as well as violations of the rule of law, contributing to ensuring the integrity, full transparency and democratic accountability of the EU institutions;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Recalls that in March 2020, the Ombudsman closed her inquiry into how the Commission ensures that scientific experts who advise it have no conflicts of interest; stresses that the Ombudsman found these systems to be adequate; Calls on the Commission to improve its assessment processes of the independence of the scientific experts who advise it, including by fully implementing the Ombudsman’s suggestions following her inquiry on this matter, ensuring that the experts concerned do not have any conflict of interest;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Calls on the Ombudsman to launch an inquiry on the Commission’s strategic approach in dealing with petitions, as its action is only limited to issues it considers of strategic importance or which reflect structural problems, founded on an arbitrary methodology and vague criteria, which can breach citizens’ right to good administration and is at odds with the Commission’s duty to oversee the correct application of EU law throughout the Union, arising from Article 17 TEU;deleted

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19a. Welcomes the continuation of the Award for Good Administration, which aims to recognise actions by the EU public service that have a positive impact on the lives of European citizens; takes the view that the award should be better publicised to show European citizens that the EU institutions are taking practical action;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Supports the Ombudsman’s activities aimed at guaranteeing the full and consistent implementation of the UNCRPD by the EU administration, including the list of best practices set out to promote a consistent approach across the EU administration in accommodating the special needs of staff members with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19 emergency; recalls, in this regard, that the Ombudsman chaired the EU Framework for the UNCRPD in 2020;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Congratulates the Ombudsman on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the post, underlining that, since 1995, the Office has handled over 57 000 complaints and conducted more than 7 300 inquiries, which has greatly contributed to improving the ethical and accountability standards of the EU institutions across a wide range of areas; endorses the Ombudsman’s strategy ‘Towards 2024’ aimed at increasing the impact, visibility and relevance of the Ombudsman’s Office, setting out its objectives and priorities, which include raising citizen awareness of the Ombudsman's work, for the current term;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Welcomes the adoption of the new Statute of the Ombudsman, whose provisions ~~reinforce~~provide clarity on the Ombudsman’s role, and add~~ing~~ further competences on areas related to whistleblowing, harassment and conflicts of interest in the institutions, bodies and agencies of the EU; considers it of the utmost importance to allocate an increased budget to the Ombudsman, in order to provide her with the necessary resources to effectively handle her overall workload;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23a. Calls on the EU public administration to make every effort to ensure that citizens are able to communicate effectively with it in the 24 official languages of the EU; Welcomes the recommendations to the EU administration published by the Ombudsman on the use of official EU languages when communicating with the public; stresses that these recommendations are vital to the preservation of rich linguistic diversity in Europe; notes that the websites of the EU institutions should better demonstrate the equality of all 24 official EU languages;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)

23b. Acknowledges the important contribution made by the European Network of Ombudsmen to the exchange of best practices and in providing information on the responsibilities and competences of its members and the proper implementation of European law; calls on this network to consider the role that national and regional ombudsmen could play in getting EU citizens more involved in the EU decision-making process;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 c (new)

23c. Welcomes the Ombudsman's efforts to improve public participation in the EU decision-making process;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 d (new)

23d. Welcomes the new version of the Ombudsman's website, which is more dynamic and easier for European citizens to use; encourages the Ombudsman to translate more of her publications into the different languages of the EU;

2021/10/12
Committee: PETI