Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Change 18

Removed36. Notes with regard to the Internal Audit Report 21/03 on the review of the Ombudsman’s Data Protection Framework, that one action remained open in the fourth quarter of 2023 and, with regard to the internal audit report 20/04 on the Ombudsman’s ICT security, that there were seven ongoing actions in 2023; invites the Ombudsman to keep the discharge authority updated as to the progress made in these matters;

Added42. Encourages the Ombudsman to work in close cooperation with ENISA (the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity); suggests that regularly updated cybersecurity-related training programmes be offered to all staff within the Ombudsman;

Added43. Notes, with regard to the Internal Audit Report 21/03 on the review of the Ombudsman’s Data Protection Framework, that one action remained open in the fourth quarter of 2023 and, with regard to the internal audit report 20/04 on the Ombudsman’s ICT security, that there were seven ongoing actions in 2023; invites the Ombudsman to keep the discharge authority updated as to the progress made in these matters;

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Environment and sustainability

44. Welcomes the fact that, over the years, the Ombudsman has reduced its environmental footprint, in particular through the digitalisation of its processes, the removal of individual printers, the non-replacement of central processing units when they reach end of life, measures to make events more sustainable and the extensive use of videoconference systems to avoid missions; notes that, in terms of the environmental footprint of its buildings, the Ombudsman relies on the measures taken by the Parliament in its capacity as owner of the buildings; notes with satisfaction that both buildings where the Ombudsman has offices run on 100 % clean energy; welcomes the installation by the Parliament of solar panels, including on the Havel building in Strasbourg in 2024;

45. Notes that the Ombudsman continued to encourage sustainable mobility in 2023; welcomes, in this sense, the fact that the Ombudsman adopted a new mobility policy that provides for the payment of a flat-rate contribution to staff up to grade AST8/AD8 who use sustainable modes of transport to get to work; notes further from the Questionnaire that the initiative whereby the Ombudsman provided bicycles for staff use during working hours was unsuccessful, as bicycles were hardly used during the trial period;

Interinstitutional cooperation

46. Welcomes the financial and administrative savings achieved through inter-institutional cooperation, in particular the wide-range of service-level agreements (SLAs) concluded with the Parliament and the Commission and the participation in interinstitutional procurement procedures; welcomes the formalisation of the collaboration between the Parliament and the Ombudsman in the field of cybersecurity through a revised inter-institutional agreement which provides a framework for the Parliament to continue providing solid cybersecurity support to the Ombudsman; notes further that in 2023 the Ombudsman signed a SLA with EPSO for the organisation of internal competitions;

Change 19

Changed40.47. Commends the Ombudsman for its good collaboration with OLAF, ECA and EPPO which in 2023 took the form of meetings and exchanges of views on, for example, ways to improve the transparency and integrity of Union institutions or the Union’s oversight framework; recalls that the Ombudsman and OLAF have put in place a system to avoid duplication of investigations; notes from the Questionnaire that the Ombudsman and the EDPS cooperate mainly on an ad-hoc and informal basis aiming for a quick and efficient collaboration when needed; encourages the Ombudsman to work closely in cooperation with the other institutions and European Agencies;

Change 20

Removed41. Recognises the importance of maintaining a high level of exchanges and coordination with the European Network of Ombudsmen (ENO); welcomes the organisation of the ENO annual conference with sessions on topics such as migration, artificial intelligence and ethics in public administration in 2023; notes with satisfaction that, through the query procedure, the Ombudsman assists ENO members in resolving investigations at national and regional level, whereas, in 2023, the Ombudsman concluded five queries originating from five Union Member States;

Added48. Calls on the Ombudsman to establish a formalized annual dialogue with the European Parliament’s CONT and LIBE Committees, ensuring systematic follow-up on institutional transparency, governance reforms and fundamental rights protection;

Removed42. Welcomes the fact that the Ombudsman in 2023 continued its close cooperation with relevant European Parliament Committees on important inquiries either by presenting the work directly in Committee meetings or through information being sent to the Committee Chairs; underlines that the strategic initiatives and inquiries conducted by the Ombudsman are key to improving the transparency and accountability of the Union’s administration;

Added49. Recognises the importance of maintaining a high level of exchanges and coordination with the European Network of Ombudsmen (ENO); welcomes the organisation of the ENO annual conference with sessions on topics such as migration, artificial intelligence and ethics in public administration in 2023; notes with satisfaction that, through the query procedure, the Ombudsman assists ENO members in resolving investigations at national and regional level, whereas, in 2023, the Ombudsman concluded five queries originating from five Union Member States; commends the organisation of the ENO annual conference in 2023 as a valuable platform for dialogue on key issues influencing the activities of Ombudsmen across Europe;

Added50. Welcomes the fact that the Ombudsman in 2023 continued its close cooperation with relevant European Parliament Committees on important inquiries, either by presenting the work directly in Committee meetings or through information being sent to the Committee Chairs; underlines that the strategic initiatives and inquiries conducted by the Ombudsman are key to improving the transparency and accountability of the Union’s administration;

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Communication

51. Notes that the overall budget for communication and promotional activities (publications, event organisation, digital communication etc.) increased by 17,20 % from EUR 132 400 in 2022 to EUR 155 200 in 2023;

52. Welcomes the efforts of and actions taken by the Ombudsman in 2023 to raise citizens’ awareness about its role and the possibility of recourse to it in the event of maladministration by a Union institution; notes in this sense the communication campaigns carried out in 2023 around a series of videos presenting the Ombudsman’s work and explaining three of the key areas of its interventions, an explainer in the form of a scrollable story on the impact of the Ombudsman’s work over time and an access to documents guide; welcomes moreover the organisation of the ‘Award for Good Administration’ ceremony and the participation of the Ombudsman at the EU Open Day in Brussels and Strasbourg, where it hosted targeted stakeholder events with academics and think tanks, and at the European Youth Event in Strasbourg in 2023;

53. Recognises the efforts undertaken by the Ombudsman to provide transparent information and publish data (including statistics on its caseload) in an informative and user friendly format on the Ombudsman website (although such data are not available in open format); welcomes the publication on the website of a timeline for all inquiries into complaints providing information about past and future milestones in each inquiry;

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54. Notes that the Ombudsman has social media accounts on Instagram, LinkedIn, X (ex-Twitter), where the number of followers and the engagement rates continued to grow in 2023; welcomes the participation of the Ombudsman in a pilot project led by the EDPS aimed at bringing Union institutions onto EU Voice and EU Video, which are two free, open-source social media networks, based on Mastodon software, allowing Union institutions to interact with the public by sharing texts, images, videos and podcasts.