30 Amendments of Eleonora EVI related to 2014/2218(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
– having regard to Rule 215 of its Rules of Procedure,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to Rule 217 of its Rules of Procedure,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to Rule 218 of its Rules of Procedure.
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas 2 714 petitions were received in 2014, which is almost 6 % down on the figure for 2013 when 2 885 petitions were lodged with Parliament; whereas 790 petitions were considered admissible and followed up; whereas 1070 petitions were considered inadmissible; whereas 817 petitions were admissible and have been closed; whereas 37 petitions had their Recommendation challenged;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the annual report on the activities of the Committee on Petitions aims at analysing petitions received in 2014 as well as discussing possible improvements of procedure and relations with other institutions;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas although this figure is modest when compared to the EU’s total population, it does nonetheless indicate that EU citizens are aware of the right to petition and have expectations regarding the usefulness of the petition procedure as a means of drawing the attention of the EU institutions and the Member States to matters about which they are concerned; whereas despite some of the citizens being aware of the petition process, there is still widespread confusion about the EU's field of activity as shown by the high number of inadmissible petitions received (39.4%);
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the right of petition is a crucial element of participatory democracy;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the right to petition aims, along with the European Ombudsman, at dealing with maladministration on the part of EU institutions or national institutions when implementing EU law;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas petitions provide valuable feedback to legislators and executive bodies both at EU and national level; whereas petitions can be an early warning for Member States lagging in implementing EU law;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas petitions which have been addressed to the Committee on Petitions have often provided other European Parliament committees with useful and direct input for their legislative work in their field;
Amendment 31 #
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 time; whereas better institutional coordination with institutions at EU, national and regional level is essential to promptly address issues raised by petitions;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas a petition is often filed at the same time as a complaint to the Commission which may lead to infringement proceedings being initiated or to an action for failure to act; whereas statistics show (see 23rd Report by the Commission on the application of EU law) that one quarter, even one third of petitions and complaints processed in 2014, are linked to infringement procedures or give rise to such procedures;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the key issues of concern dealt with in petitions relate to environmental legislation (in particular issues concerning water and waste management, and hydrocarbon prospection), fundamental rights (in particular the rights of the child and of the disabled, especially since up to one quarter of the European electorate declare some degree of impairment or disability), free movement of persons, various forms of discrimination (on ethnic, cultural or language-based grounds in particular), visas, immigration, employment, the application of justice, and many other areas of activity;
Amendment 64 #
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 the web portal should be the tool through which full transparency of the petition process can be achieved; whereas there can be no question but that its launch in November 2014 has helped to promote EU citizenship;
Amendment 83 #
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; reiterates that better institutional coordination with institutions at EU, national and regional level as well as other bodies is essential to promptly address issues raised by petitions;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the Committee on Petitions, as the contact point for citizens, the European Ombudsman and the European Citizens’ Initiative together constitute a set of basic tools for participatory democracy in the European Union and that transparent and appropriate access to them has to be ensured along with their smooth running;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that cooperation with national, regional and local authorities on matters linked to the application of EU law plays a vital role in reconnecting with EU citizens and reinforcing the democratic legitimacy and accountability of the European Union’s decision-making process; notes that cooperation is enhanced by proactive exchange of information, at all institutional levels and that this is key to address issues raised by petitioners; regrets that in certain cases national, regional and local authorities do not react at the Committee on Petitions' requests;
Amendment 110 #
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 welcomencourages the presence of representatives of some Member States at meetings;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Points to the work by the Committee on Petitions in connection with petitions on issues relating to disability and notes the Committee’s willingness to continue to support this work in association with the parliamentary committees with responsibility in this field; welcomes the inclusion of the Committee on Petitions in the Framework of bodies established by the EU to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) treaty obligations; calls on the Commission to link the analysis of petitions dealing with disability rights issues to the progress of the CRPD implementation in the EU;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Regrets that some Member States have not yet ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and calls on them to sign and ratify it as soon as possible;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls for the EU and the Member States to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Calls on the Member States to sign and ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities without further delay;
Amendment 131 #
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 some Member States and 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 othermany cases involving other countries:, Germany (in particular - notably in cases concerning the work of the Jugendamt (Child and Youth Welfare Office), Slovakia, France and the Netherlands; welcomes, in this regard, the upcoming revision in 2016 of Regulation Brussels IIa;
Amendment 144 #
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 disabled, the internal market, environmental law, public health issues, child welfare, transport, the disabled and animal rights;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Believes that the organisation of public hearings is a very important way of examining problems raised by petitioners; wishes to draw attention to the public hearings organised with the Committee on the Environment in regard to the European Citizens’ Initiative on ‘Water is a Human Right’ and with the Committee on Legal Affairs for the ECI entitled ‘One of Us’; believes that the ECI is the first instrument of transnational participatory democracy that will enable citizens to become actively involved in the framing of EU policies and legislation; reaffirms its commitment to being involved in organising public hearings for successful initiatives; undertakes to give priority, at institutional level, to the effectiveness of this participative process; welcomes the accessibility features for disabled persons during the hearings such as the text to speech screen;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Deplores the Commission's reply to the few successful ECIs and regrets there was little follow-up to the only instrument of transnational participatory democracy in the EU;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to continue in 2014 activities under the banner of the ‘European Year of Citizens’ by focusing more on the European elections (held between 22 and 25 May 2014); welcomes the Commission’s readiness to inform citizens about the tools placed at their disposal so that they could better participate in the EU’s democratic process, as well as its readiness at that point in time to provide EU citizens with information and advice on their rights and the democratic instruments available to defend them; stresses that further efforts should be made in order to raise awareness, given that in many Member States turnout to the European Parliament's elections in 2014 fell short of 50%;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Points to the importance of the Committee on Petitions having launched its Internet portal through which petitioners may register, submit their petition, upload supporting documents, support admissible petitions, receive information about their petition and also automatic e-mail alerts about changes to the status of their petition; highlights that further steps should be taken to enhance the transparency of the petition process;
Amendment 172 #
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 and encourages 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;