Member of the European Parliament for Malta Roberta Metsola today emphasised that increased transparency within EU institutions and Governments is the best way forward to bridge the gap between citizens and lawmakers.
Echoing PN Leader Simon Busuttil’s call in Malta, Dr Metsola stated that institutions need to become more open and more user-friendly. “Governments and institutions need to trust their citizens more if we expect this trust to be reciprocated and need to have strong mechanisms that allow people to redress their issues. We need to realise that the era of leaders allowed to be clouded in secrecy is long over. People expect more and rightly so” commented Dr Metsola.
Speaking during a debate with the EU Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, in the European Parliament Dr Metsola congratulated her for her hard work in dealing with citizens’ complaints and underlined that politicians need to support independent Ombudsman Offices in every EU State. Citing Malta’s Ombudsman as an example of good practice, Dr Metsola said that the office was leading an initiative to launch the “International Ombudsman Law Institute” on the island and should be supported.
