Activities of Barbara SPINELLI related to 2017/2069(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on EU Citizenship Report 2017: Strengthening Citizens’ Rights in a Union of Democratic Change
Amendments (12)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomRequires the CommissEU institution’s continuousto make substantial efforts to ensure that EU citizenship’ rights are upheld; is convinced that EU citizens will only be able to exercise their rights fully if the Member Stprotected and promoted in all fields of Union’s action by implementing the provisions of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union and the relevant ones of the EU Treaties make a firm commitment to protecting them– having regard in particular to article 2, 6, 9 and 11 TEU – to their full potential, while making the lawfulness of any EU acts conditional to their respect;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Reiterates its call upon to the Commission to present as soon as possible a new draft agreement for the accession of the Union to the European Convention on Human Rights in line with the obligations deriving from article 6 TEU, providing positive solutions to the objections raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in its Opinion 2/13 of 18 December 2014;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is engaged inConsiders it necessary to enhancinge the democratic dimension of the European elections by reforming current European electoral law with a view to increasing citizens’ participation and confidence in the EU democratic system, thanks to increased transparency and awareness and new voting systems, including e- democracy toolsUnion through the reform of the current electoral law but also through the redefinition of its current political priorities by giving a central role to the promotion of civil and social rights, while providing for a greater involvement of the civil society in decision-making and implementation processes, with a view to increasing citizens’ participation and confidence in the EU integration project;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Urges the European institutions and the Member States to prioritise the fight against social, economic and political exclusion as a precondition for favouring the effective participation of EU citizens in the democratic processes and enabling them to concretely exercise their citizenship’s rights;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the Commission to start negotiations with the Council of Europe in order to launch the process for the accession of the EU to the European Social Charter; in the meantime, asks the Commission to use the Charter as guiding standard for the impact assessments carried out on the basis of article 12 of the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making and for drafting the explanatory memoranda foreseen in article 25 of the same, having regard to the fifth recital of the Preamble to the Treaties;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Welcomes the adoption of its Resolution of 25 October 2016 proposing the conclusion of a Union Pact for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, as an additional tool able to improve the protection and promotion of human rights –including citizenship’s rights – and to increase citizens’ trust towards the EU institutions; asks the Commission to swiftly submit a proposal giving effect to the Parliament’s Resolution;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Warns against possible legal uncertainty over the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and those of UK citizens living in the EU arising as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU; believes that core rights should be safeguarded in the UK withdrawal agreementthe full complex of indivisible rights deriving from the EU citizenship and the agfreement on the future relationship between the EU and the UKdom of movement must be safeguarded already in the withdrawal agreement; stresses that any agreement should be based on the principle of reciprocity and non- discrimination;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Stresses that any definitive agreement on citizens’ rights has to be clearly ring-fenced from the rest of the Article 50 negotiations on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Recalls that in the period 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2016 the majority of complaints received by the European Ombudsman concerned an alleged lack of transparency, as highlighted by the Commission in its Report of 24.1.2017 “On progress towards effective EU citizenship 2013-2016”; is convinced that full transparency and integrity of the EU Institutions is an essential condition to build trust and confidence vis-à-vis EU citizens and to allow them to fully enjoy and exercise their citizenship’s rights; asks all the EU institutions and bodies to address the still existing shortcomings in line with the provisions, amongst others, of articles 9 and 10(3) TEU, 15 TFEU and 41-42 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomesTakes note of the Commission’s plancommitment to revise the European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation with a view to improving its functioning; in this regard, besides the necessary technical modifications, requests the Commission to submit a proposal aimed at revising the conditions of legal admissibility and the requirements for registration of an ECI as well as the procedures for its examination, taking as a starting point the judgments of the General Court in the cases “Minority SafePack” (T-646/13) and “Stop TTIP”(T-754/14); strongly supports the regulation as an important tool for participatory democracy that, if used to its full potential, could increase citizens’ trust in the EU institutions and contribute to the construction of a genuine andmore inclusive European Union;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Is convinced that participation to the democratic processes is founded, first of all, on the effective and non- discriminatory access to information and knowledge, online and offline; asks the Commission to further promote policies and public campaigns aimed at informing citizens about the full range of rights deriving from the Treaties and the EU Charter of fundamental rights and about the tools available to exercise and enforce those rights;