Post on 01-Apr-2015
Civil Society Media Seminar 2013address by
The European Ombudsman Emily O‘Reilly
25 November 2013
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
"Think like a wise man, but
communicate in the language of
the people."
William Butler Yeats1865 – 1939
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
“Gobbledygook may indicate a failure to think
clearly, a contempt for one's clients, or more
probably a mixture of both. A system that can't or
won't communicate is not a safe basis for a
democracy.”
Michael Shanksformer chairman to the
National Consumer Council of Great Britain
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
“The EU is a community under the
rule of law, and, whatever its present
challenges, it is a community that has
promoted democracy, peace and
prosperity across Europe over the
past half century. The rise of
Eurolegalism may bring with it an
excess of law, lawyers and
litigation, but we may simply have
to accept this as a small price to be
paid to maintain European unity.”
R. Daniel KelemenProfessor of Political Science
Rutgers University
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
“Reading some judgments one
rather loses the will to live – and
this is particularly disconcerting
when it’s your own judgment that
you are reading.”
Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
President of the Supreme Court of the UK
“In summertime village cricket is the delight of everyone. Nearly every village has its
own cricket field where the young men play and the old men watch. In the village of
Lintz in County Durham they have their own ground, where they have played these
last 70 years. They tend it well. The wicket area is well rolled and mown. The outfield
is kept short. It has a good club house for the players and seats for the onlookers. The
village team play there on Saturdays and Sundays. They belong to a league,
competing with the neighbouring villages. On other evenings after work they practise
while the light lasts. Yet now after these 70 years a judge of the High Court has
ordered that they must not play there any more. He has issued an injunction to stop
them. He has done it at the instance of a newcomer who is no lover of cricket.“
Lord Denning 1899 – 1999
European OmbudsmanClear Writing Awards 2013
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
“I don’t think there’s anybody in this
room who has read [the Treaty of
Lisbon] cover to cover. I don’t expect
ordinary decent Irish people will be
sitting down spending hours reading
sections about sub-sections referring to
other articles and sub-articles, but
there is sufficient analysis done and
people have put together a
consolidated text which is quite easy to
read …”
Charlie McCreevyFormer European Commissioner for
Internal Market and Services 2004–2010
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
The complementarity between the Agenda and both the mid-term review of
the Lisbon strategy and the sustainable development strategy makes it
necessary to ensure close dovetailing with other Community policies on the
internal market, industry, competition and trade. This approach implies
taking full account of social and employment dimensions in other
Community policies, and vice versa. The integrated Impact Assessment tool
developed by the Commission provides a valuable methodological
contribution. Accordingly, the Agenda draws its inspiration from the
Constitutional Treaty, which proclaims the importance of an integrated
approach.
(From a Communication from the European Commission on the Social Agenda)
European OmbudsmanCivil Society Media Seminar 2013
Where a modification proposed by the European Parliament does not
have the effect of increasing the total amount of expenditure of an
institution, owing in particulare to the fact that the increase in
expenditure which it would involve would be expressly compensated
by one or more proposed modifications correspondingly reducing
expenditure, the Council may, acting by a qualified majority, reject the
proposed modification. In the absence of a decision to reject it, the
proposed modification shall stand as accepted.
(From Article 272.5b of the Treaty establishing the European Communities)