Activities of Heinz K. BECKER related to 2013/2186(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the EU Citizenship Report 2013. EU citizens: your rights, your future PDF (174 KB) DOC (90 KB)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the EU Citizenship Report 2013. EU citizens: your rights, your future
Amendments (16)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
– having regard to the Commission Communication of 27 October08 May 20103 entitled ‘Report on EU Citizenship Report 2013: your rights, your future’ COM(2013)0269,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to the results of the Commission’s public consultation on EU citizenship, held from 09 May to 27 September 2012,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
– having regard to Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the Treaty on European Union,
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Underlines the importance of the organised civil society (NGOs and NPOs in the fields of culture and sports, churches, etc.) in strengthening an active European citizenship, e.g. by involving their members in debates on EU issues that they are directly concerned with or by engaging their members in charity and volunteering activities abroad; considers it therefore crucial to further facilitate the trans-border work of these organisations in reducing bureaucratic burdens and providing adequate funding;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Urges member states to give more space to political education on EU affairs in their school curricula; considers that teachers play a vital role for bringing EU affairs into schools and encourages member states therefore to equip them with the know-how and resources they need to live up to this role;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas free movement of people is one of the key elements of EU citizenship and the functioning of the internal market; whereas according to a Flash Eurobarometer from February 2013 more than two thirds of respondents agree that free movement of people within the EU brings overall benefits to the economy of their own country;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission Communication (COM(2013)6030269) announcing new actions in six areas aimed at strengthening citizens’ rights;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Welcomes the fact that a large majority of the 25 measures, announced in the Commission’s EU Citizenship Report 2010, has in the meantime been completed by the Commission and other EU institutions;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Encourages Member States to give more space to political education on EU affairs, inter alia on EU citizens’ rights, in their school curricula and to adapt teachers’ training accordingly; considers that Member States should promote school visits to EU institutions in their educational systems;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Acknowledges the vital role played by the Member States in correctly implementing European legislation; believes that enhanced cooperation with local and national authorities can be an efficient means of informally resolving problems; in this respect, applauds the Commission’s intention of supporting from 2013 on, via its town twinning scheme in the Europe for Citizens programme, exchanges of best practice between municipalities and projects aimed at enhancing knowledge about and correct implementation of citizens’ rights; believes that a practical toolkit on EU citizens’ rights tailored for local and regional administration would further improve correct implementation;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to regularly monitor the way in which the administrative formalities related to entry and residence are processed in the Member Statesof EU citizens and their relatives are processed in the Member States and calls on the Member States not to encumber these formalities with excessive bureaucracy not required under EU law;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Member StEuropean political parties and their national affiliates to organise transparent publicelectoral campaigns ahead of the European elections 2014 and effectively tackle the problem of falling voter participation rates; calls on all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies to further improve transparency and make access to documents easy and user- friendly, as this enable citizens to participate more closely in the decision- making processonsiders the nomination of Europe wide candidates for Commission president by European political parties an important step towards building a genuine European public space, but is convinced that the prospect of a Europeanization of the electoral campaign can only be achieved through pan-European activities and networks of local and national media, especially public ones in the fields of radio, TV and the internet;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies to further improve transparency and make access to documents easy and user-friendly, as this enable citizens to participate more closely in the decision-making process;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Welcomes the recent adoption of the two main EU programmes funding activities in the field of EU citizenship from 2014 to 2020, the Rights and Citizenship and the Europe for Citizens programmes; considers it highly regrettable that especially the financial envelope for the latter, which supports projects on active European citizenship, has been drastically cut by Member States’ governments as compared to the period 2007-2013;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Expresses its serious concern about petitions revealing the delicatelegal situation of certain residents who, due to their status, cannot entirely benefit from their rights to free movement or from full voting rights in local elections; calls on the European Commission and Member States concerned to facilitate the regularisation of the status of such cases;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Is deeply concerned about the obstacles citizens still face when exercising their individual rights in the Internal Market and believes that the current economic insecurity in Europe also needs to be tackled by removing these obstacles; welcomes therefore the new initiatives announced by the Commission to strengthen citizens in their role as consumers and workers across Europe; highlights the importance to address above all the difficult situation of young people in the crisis by developing a quality framework to protect trainees’ rights as well as by improving the exchange of information about traineeship and apprenticeship opportunities in other EU countries through the EURES network;