14 Amendments of Margrete AUKEN related to 2015/2231(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas Article 43 of the Charter states: ‘Any citizen of the Union and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State has the right to refer to the Ombudsman cases of maladministration in the activities of the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the Union, with the exception of the Court of Justice of the European Union acting in its judicial role’; whereas this definition does not limit maladministration to cases where the rule or principle that is being violated is legally binding; whereas the principles of good administration go further than the law and according to the first European Ombudsman, ‘maladministration occurs when a public body fails to act in accordance with a rule or principle which is binding upon it’; whereas this requires the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union not only to respect their legal obligations but also to be service-minded and to ensure that members of the public are properly treated and fully enjoy their rights;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NotWelcomes that the Ombudsman has made greater use of her power to open strategic investigations on her own initiative and has appointed an Own- Initiative Investigation Co-ordinator; considers that it has been crucial that the Ombudsman put the focus on transparency as a guarantee of good administration;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that, over the years, 20-30 % of complaints have concerned transparency and that the most common transparency issues raised are the institutions’ refusal to grant access to documents and/or information; considers that openness and access to documents are an essential part of the system of institutional checks and balances; calls on the Ombudsman to investigate on the transparency issues regarding the Parliament’s access to Commission’s relevant documents on infringement and EU Pilot procedure, when these are related to existing petitions and particularly on the matters of confidentiality upon consent or not of involved third parties such as national authorities; considers that appropriate mechanisms net to be identified and put into place in order to ensure a faithful inter-institutional dialogue;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Warns that not all the provisions related to the Aarhus Convention and its related regulations (1367/2006/EC and 1049/2001/EC) are duly complied with effectively yet; considers that there is still much room for improvement in the field of transparency from the European Commission side, particularly concerning the availability in terms of quantity and quality of the information provided to individual citizens and civil society organisations upon their request to access to documents; invites the Ombudsman to conduct an investigation on the basis of the extensive petition 0134/2012 on these matters, in view of identifying and redressing any possible maladministration concerning the implementation of these regulations by the concerned EU institutions;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the Ombudsman’s inquires in connection with the ongoing TTIP negotiations, with particular focus on their lack of transparency; notes that the Council has since published the Directives the EU is using to negotiate the TTIP and that the Commission has announced plans to increase transparency in lobbying and broaden access to TTIP documents;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Wonders whether the long delays in the decision-making of some legislative initiatives in the Council, such as the horizontal anti-discrimination directive which has been frozen for over six years, or the ratification of the Marrakech Treaty for the copyright exemption for blind people in the access to books, do not fall within the category of maladministration, since they create a lot of frustration on the concerned citizens towards the EU institutions; urges the Council and particularly the blocking minorities therein, to take the necessary steps to address these unbearable situations; suggests the Ombudsman to explore this issue within the scope of its competences;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the Transparency Register, in which more than 7000 institutions have voluntarily registered; welcomes the Ombudsman’s support for Vice President Timmermans’ plan to work towards a mandatory register and welcomes the Commission’s decision obliging all members of the Commission and senior staff to publish all contacts and meetings with stakeholders and lobbyists; welcomes the Ombudsman’s efforts to investigate revolving doors and encourages the Ombudsman to further define and investigate authorities’ conflicts of interest at the different levels of the EU institutions;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Considers that the notion of conflict of interests goes beyond a simple matter of transparency and that ensuring a conflict of interest-free European public administration is a primary concern when attempting to build a true European democracy; suggests that beyond the current definitions, more clear and detailed criteria and enforcement mechanisms should effectively be developed and put into place in order to prevent conflict of interest at any level of the European public function, in order to safeguard the trust of European citizens and between public servants themselves and across institutions; takes the view that particularly this should entail preventing certain persons suspected of being involved, or potentially, in a conflict of interests; encourages the Ombudsman to research upon these matters, taking into account the UNCAC provision, the OECD Guidelines for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service, and also Transparency International’s specific recommendations, and to come up with some conclusions and concrete proposals in their regard;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Asks the Ombudsman to work closely withmonitor the work of the European Patent Office, in particular with regard to potential breaches of the right to health and affordable healthcare due to restrictive patenting rules for innovative medicinal products;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on Frontex to ensure respect for the welfare of returnees during return flights and the way it implements its Code of Conduct for Joint Return Operations; welcomes the Ombudsman’s call on Frontex to establish an individual complaints mechanism for potential fundamental rights infringements; invites her to further investigate this matter in the current situation of increasing numbers of refugees at the borders of the EU;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Commends the Ombudsman on her investigations into the citizens’ right to participate in the EU decision-making process, in particular into the functioning of the European Citizens’ Initiative; notes that in 2014 she invited ECI organisers, Civil Society Organisations and other interested parties to provide feedback on the ECI with a view to its improvement; expects further suggestions in particular in what concerns existing technical and data protection-related constraints in the signature collection process;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the EU institutions’ 80 % compliance rate with the Ombudsman’s suggestions; is concerned at the persisting 20% non- compliance; urges the institutions to respond and react promptly to the Ombudsman’s critical remarks and to make all efforts to improve their follow-up rate;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Supports the Ombudsman in any possible future inquiry, within its remit, concerning the identification of loopholes in the transparency about the execution of the EU budget, also within this Parliament, in due cooperation with the Budgetary Control committee, OLAF and the Court of Auditors;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Encourages the Ombudsman to continue to promote the European Network of Ombudsmen with a view to better informing EU citizens about the apportionment of responsibilities between the European Ombudsman, national and regional ombudsmen and its Committee on Petitions; recognises the important contribution of the Network, also in fostering the exchange of best practices and about the different prerogatives among these institutions; notes that 59.3 % of complaints processed in 2014 fell within the competence of a member of the Network; recalls that its Committee on Petitions is a full member of the Network; notes that in 2014 the Ombudsman transferred 86 complaints to this committee;