Sophia in 't Veld (ALDE). – Madam President, the Commission, the Council and the EPP talk a lot about transparency, but they seem to be paying lip service only. I find quite shocking the contrast between the debate on transparency and the ceremony we had earlier when granting the Sakharov Prize. Ms Sommer just said in German – I wrote it down – that she is against

(DE) ‘public influence on procedures’.

In other words, we cannot have citizens actually influencing procedures. Ms Sommer, I think that is precisely the point: to give citizens the power to influence the procedure. Secrecy is the legacy of the old Europe that was shaped by diplomats. In the Europe of today that is a political union, a union of the citizens, we need to give them the instruments to shape the European Union themselves.

Finally, transparency may also be awkward for ourselves. We should not only be talking about the Commission and the Council: this House should lead by example and show a culture of transparency and accountability.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 149(8))