Activities of Heinz K. BECKER related to 2014/2218(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Activities of the Committee on Petitions 2014 (debate) DE
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the activities of the Committee on Petitions 2014 PDF (751 KB) DOC (500 KB)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas 1 887 petitions of which 1 070 petitions were inadmissible were closed in 2014, this is almost a 10% rise on the figure for 2013 where 1 723 petitions were closed;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas 817 petitions were declared admissible and could be closed in 2014, which is almost 7 % raise on the figure for 2013 where 677 were declared admissible and could be closed;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas these figures indicate that the revised administrative procedure by the Secretary-General of the European Parliament from 2014, have increased the efficiency of the work of the Committee of Petitions;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas each petition is carefully assessed and dealt with and each petitioner has the right to receive a reply within a reasonable period of timein the clear administrative procedure for petitions that were put in place by the Secretary- General of the European Parliament in 2014 and cover the whole lifecycle of a petition in the European Parliament and finally ensure to deliver realistic results in 9 months in written form to citizens instead of keeping false hopes by leaving petitions open for 2 and more years, as it was the case in the past;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas an additional criterion for the admissibility of petitions is whether the petitioner with the petition is directly affected; whereas, for this reason, Members of the European Parliament should refrain from submitting petitions for citizens and should instead make use of other parliamentary means.
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the web portal of the Committee on Petitions was launched on 19 November 2014 to replace the Europarl site’s previous electronic platform for filing petitions; whereas this portal has been designed as an integrated solution covering the specific needs of the petition process and which gives EU citizens wishing to file a petition an Internet tool better suited to their needs; whereas the portal will help improve the service and its visibility for citizens and committee members, and will act as an electronic register (planned in Rule 216(4) of the Rules of Procedure) through which citizens may lend or withdraw their support for existing petitions and affix their electronic signature to their own petitions; whereas the new portal has been designed to make the petition procedure more transparent and interactive, and administrative aspects more efficient, in the interest of petitioners, Members and the general public; whereas there can be no question but that its launch in November 2014 has helped to promote EU citizenship; welcomes the launch of the web portal, that brought the Committee on Petitions even closer to the citizens and sensitized the citizens on the capacity and possibilities of the Committee on Petitions to help them to redress their situation; emphasises that the use of new information and communication technology shall be further on stimulated to bring the Committee work closer to citizens and also further lead to EU budget savings;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the web portal of the Committee on Petitions was launched on 19 November 2014 to replace the Europarl site’s previous electronic platform for filing petitions; whereas this portal has been designed as an integrated solution covering the specific needs of the petition process and which gives EU citizens wishing to file a petition an Internet tool better suited to their needs; whereas the portal will help improve the service and its visibility for citizens and committee members, and will act as an electronic register (planned in Rule 216(4) of the Rules of Procedure) through which citizens may lend or withdraw their support for existing petitions and affix their electronic signature to their ownfile and keep track of petitions; whereas the new portal has been designed to make the petition procedure more transparent and interactive, and administrative aspects more efficient, in the interest of petitioners, Members and the general public; whereas there can be no question but that its launch in November 2014 has helped to promote EU citizenship;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas it should be noted that owing to the workload of the Committee on Petition, no fact-finding visits took place for petitions for which an inquiry was ongoing during 2014, but fact-finding visits have been scheduled for 2015remarks that in the future, fact-finding visits in conjunction with appropriate petitions will be carried out;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the fundamental role played by the Committee on Petitions in defending and promoting the rights of EU citizens and residents, ensuring that the concerns of petitioners are better recognised and their legitimate grievances are resolved wherever possible and within a reasonable timeframe;; points to the importance of complying with the administrative reform of the Secretary- General of the European Parliament of 2014, according to which admissible petitions requiring discussion should be discussed in the Committee within 9 months from the filing of the petition at the latest.
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers it essential that cooperation with the parliaments and governments of Member States be strengthened and that Member State authorities be encouraged to be fully transparent in transposing and applying EU law; stresses the importance of collaboration with the Commission and the Member States and welcomes the presence of representatives of some Member States at meetingreiterates the call of the report on the activities of the Committee on Petitions 2013 (2014/2008 (INI)) for launching an enhanced structured dialogue with Member States namely by holding regular meetings with Members from national Committee on Petitions;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the EU Member States to legally standardise the obligation to create petition committees in national parliaments, which would increase the effectiveness of the cooperation between the Committee on Petitions and the national parliaments.
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Underlines the growing importance of the Committee on Petitions in the European Parliament as a scrutiny committee, which should be a point of reference for the transposition and implementation of the European legislation on the administrative level in the Member states; reiterates the call of the report on the activities of the Committee on Petitions 2013 (2014/2008 (INI)) for more political debates during the plenary sessions and a more vivid communication on the petitions of European citizens;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Deplores the fact that the Charter of Fundamental Rights has not been adopted in all the EU Member States and that many people have found its implementation to be unclear and, to some extent, disappointing; deplordetermines the strict way in which the Commission has interpreted Article 51 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights with its stipulation that the provisions of the Charter are addressed to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing Union law; recalls that the Commission has often said it is unable to act in the area of fundamental rights, when the Committee has so requested, citing Article 51 of the Charter; stresses the fact that the expectations of citizens are much greater than the Charter’s strictly legal provisions allow for; calls on the Commission to do more to meet citizens’ expectations and to find a new approach to the interpretation of Article 51;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes the concerns of petitioners regarding alleged cases of injustice that have occurred during the administrative and judicial procedures for separation or divorce of parents and issues relating to the custody of young children; notes in this context that in the case of bi-national couples, discrimination on grounds of nationality may occur in favour of the spouseparent from the Member State in which proceedings take place and against the non- national of that state, with severe and often very dramatic repercussions on the rights of the child; notes that the Committee on Petitions will conduct a fact-finding visit to the United Kingdom in 2015 to investigate complaints of this nature in situ; stresses that it has been notified of other cases involving other countries: Germany (notably in cases concerning the work of the Child and Youth Welfare Office), France and the Netherlands;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes the concerns of petitioners regarding alleged cases of injustice that have occurred during the administrative and judicial procedures for separation or divorce of parents and issues relating to the custody of young children; notes in this context that in the case of bi-national couples, discrimination on grounds of nationality may occur in favour of the spouse from the Member State in which proceedings take place and against the non- national of that state, with severe and often very dramatic repercussions on the rights of the child; notes that the Committee on Petitions will conduct a fact-finding visit to the United Kingdom in 2015 to investigate complaints of this nature in situ; stresses that it has been notified of other cases involving other countries: Germany (notably in cases concerning the work of the Child and Youth Welfare Office), France and, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes the concerns of petitioners regarding alleged cases of injustice that have occurred during the administrative and judicial procedures for separation or divorce of parents and issues relating to the custody of young children; notes in this context that in the case of bi-national couples, discrimination on grounds of nationality may occur in favour of the spouse from the Member State in which proceedings take place and against the non- national of that state, with severe and often very dramatic repercussions on the rights of the child; notes that the Committee on Petitions will conduct a fact-finding visit to the United Kingdom in 2015 to investigate complaints of this nature in situ; ;stresses that it has been notified of other cases involving other countries: Germany (notably in cases concerning the work of the Child and Youth Welfare Office), France and the Netherlands;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Welcomes the social dialogue ‘European Forum on the Rights of the Child’ annually organised at the Commission’s initiative since 2007, the aim of which consists in supporting children’s rights as part of internal and external EU measures. The participants of this dialogue are: Representatives of the EU Member States, children’s rights representatives, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee, Europarat, UNICEF, NGOs.
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses the wide range of the subjects raised in the petitions filed by citizens, such as fundamental rights, the internal market, environmental law, public health issues, child welfare, transport, the disabled and animal rights; calls for further specialising the work of the Committee on Petitions by nominating internal rapporteurs on the major policies to which petitioners refer;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. AcknowledgEmphasises the important role of the SOLVIT network, which regularly uncovers and resolves problems linked to the implementation of internal market legislation; urges the Commission to upgrade this tool;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Attaches great importance to the presence and active cooperation of representatives of the Member States during meetings of the Committee on Petitions; welcomes the presence of representatives from the public authorities of the Member State concerned, their participation and their active cooperation, with particular reference to the representatives of certain Member States such as Greece, Italy and Spain; encourages other Member States to follow their example; encourages all Member States to actively participate in the petition process;