35 Amendments of Fabio Massimo CASTALDO related to 2016/2008(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
– having regard to the two STOA studies entitled 'E-public, e-participation and e-voting in Europe - prospects and challenges: final report', November 2011 and 'Technology options and systems to strengthen participatory and direct democracy', which will be published in 2017,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas following the recent crises in the economic, political and social fields that have severely affected individual Member States and the Union as a whole, citizens’' relationship with politics has become increasingly strained, as the public feels that it is not representcitizens feel that are not represented adequately and that the political elites are distant, self-referential, and have become incapable to properly address their needs adequatelynd solve their problems; whereas the engagement and direct active involvement of citizens and civil society in democratic life are essential for the good functioning of democracy and for the legitimacy and accountability of both national and EU representational systems;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the results of the last Eurobarometer1a poll show that only 33% of EU citizens trust the EU, 55% feel that their voice does not count in the EU and barely 50% are optimistic about the future of the EU; __________________ 1aStandard Eurobarometer 85 – Spring 2016 "Public opinion in the European Union, First results".
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the voters' turnout in the European elections is steadily decreasing since 1979 and in the 2014 elections dropped to 42,54%;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas it is crucial to regain citizens’' trust and confidence and interest in the European project bys well as to stimulate their ability to think critically about the European project, with a view to recover their interest in it, by providing balanced information and knowledge about both the EU's current reality and about its history, improving active participation and full transparency in all decision- making processes, buttressing democratic oversight mechanisms, making political parties more open, transparent and accountable and reforming electoral systems to give the public more voice and chances to participate in them;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas democracy should evolve and adapt to the changes and opportunities associated with the new technological age, the progress ofes and ICT tools, which must be regarded as a publiccommon good that, if where properly usedimplemented and accompanied with an adequate level of information and digital literacy, could help to create a more transparent and participatory democracy, whilst favouring the use of direct democracy mechanisms;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the internet is an area for interaction which has a direct impact on people’s reality, rights and lives and which, as such, should be regulated;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas a wave of new digital communication tools and open and collaborative platforms could inspire creative solutions forand effectively provide new solutions for fostering citizens' political participation and engagement, whilst reducing public discontent with political institutions and , as well as helping to increase levels of trust, transparency and accountability in the democratic system;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas access, under equal conditions, to a neutral network is a prerequisite for ensuring the effectiveness of fundamental human rights;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas e-democracy could represent an alternative form of engagement capable of providing a solstimulating citizens' initiatives, initiating a widespread cultural change, and, where properly designed and used, contributiong to mitigate growing public disaffection with traditional politics, and could help promote grassroots support for EU policies. Furthermore, it could help to better understand our Union and its policies, therefore favouring grassroots support for the European project as well as reducing the so-called European 'democratic deficit';
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas it is indispensable, in order to guarantee the web to be a valid and effective democratic tool, to eradicate the digital divide and to provide citizens with adequate media literacy and digital skills;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes e-democracy, which iscan be defined as the support and enhancement of traditional democracy by means of information and communication technology (ICT), and is meant to complement and improve democratic processes by adding elements of citizens’' enablempowerment through different online activities that include, amongst others, e-government, e- governance, e- deliberation, e-participation and e-voting;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that the purpose of e- democracy is to facilitate democratic practice, not to establish an alternative democratic system or to promote a certain type of democracyand reinforce representative democratic practice as well as to complement it, where possible, with participatory and direct democracy mechanisms;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights and encourages the use of e-participation as aone of the key characteristics of e-democracy, encompassing three forms of interaction between governments and citizens, mainly e-information, e- consultation and e- decision-making; acknowledges that many national, regional and local e-participation cases can be, within Europe, can be already taken as good examples of how ICT can be used in participatory and direct democracy;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points to the importance of e-voting as a system able to widen citizens' inclusion, ease democratic participation and offering many potential advantages, in particular for young people, people with reduced mobility and people living or working in a Member State of which they are not a citizen or in a third country;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls the first successful European example of online voting in Estonia in its legally binding elections in 2005 as a positive example, but to be taken as reference, and therefore maintains that if the take-up of e-voting across Europe is to be successful, it will be necessary to assess the costs, benefits and implications of different or divergent technological approaches and decide accordingly; considering in particular the issues related with cybersecurity, in parallel with the standard security needs presented by all conventional participatory systems;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that democratic processes require extensive debate, scrutiny and reflection which are conducive to fair and rational deliberation, but that this could be overshadowed by specific sectorial interests, which, as it may be the case for offline channels, could abuse the influence of ICT;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Highlights that in order to fully grasp the opportunities of e-democracy and ICT tools and avoid any kind of abuse a legal enabling, and publicly regulated, environment is necessary;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States and the EU to provide educational and technical means for improving ICT competences and, digital literacy, and equal digital access for all EU citizens in order to fully bridge the digital divide (e-inclusion), for the ultimate benefit of democracy and to ensure the democratic inclusion of all EU citizens regardless of their income, social and personal condition, geographical location and avoiding any kind of discrimination as provided for in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU; encourages the Member States to integrate the acquisition of digital skills into school curricula and supports the development of networks with universities and educational institutions to promote research on and implementation of new participation tools;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States and the EU to provide educational and technical means for improving ICT competences and digital access for all EU citizens in order to bridge the digital divide (e-inclusion), for the ultimate benefit of democracy; encourages the Member States to integrate the acquisition of digital skills into school curricula and supports the development of networks with universities and educational institutions to promote research on and implementation of new participation tools; recommends that e-training also be provided to the elderly, in order to bridge the digital divide in all its forms;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Considers it crucial that the EU and the Member States develop and implement actions and policies able to provide EU citizens with an adequate media and digital literacy education as well as creative thinking skills, stimulate peer learning, critical thinking, and guarantee access to reliable sources of independent information, in order to empower them to make informed decisions and positively contribute to democratic processes;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Urges the Member States and the EU to deliver affordable and high-speed digital infrastructure, particularly in peripheral regions and rural and economically less developed areas, and to ensure that real equality between citizens is guaranteed; recommends thatto this end, recalls the objective to ensure a high-quality level of coverage of European population and territory at speeds of at least 30 Mb/s and recommends that education and research institutions, such as public libraries and schools, be appropriately resourced and that IT infrastructure be equally accessible to all citizens, especially the most vulnerable categories, such as people with disabilities;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Encourages the Member States and the EU to promote and, support mechanismand implement mechanisms and instruments that enable the participation of the publiccitizens and their interaction with governments and EU institutions, such as crowdsourcing platforms; highlights that ICT should facilitate access to independent information, transparency, accountability, active listening and debate for better decision- making;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Takes the view that the EU should resolutely promote the constitutional inclusion of the right to universal internet access on an equal footing; stresses that the conditions for doing this necessitate action by the Member States at EU level, particularly to guarantee a genuine right of access to the internet and net neutrality;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to realise the full potential of the European Citizens’ Initipoints to the importance of the European citizens’ initiative as a means of involving the public in the political life of the EU and their direct participation therein, and therefore calls on the Commission to review the way that it operates in order to realise its full potential, in line with the recommendations given by the European Parliament in its resolution of 28 October 2015 (2014/2257(INI); draws attention therefore to the importance of simplifying and accelerativeng through a wider use of ICTe bureaucratic requirements relating to this and of making wider use of ICT, such as digital platforms and other applications compatible with mobile devices, in order to make this important tool more user- friendly and widely publicised; believes that the use of new technology could improve, in particular, the online signature collection system through the use of identification and authentication services (e-IDAS), which would allow members of the public to receive and exchange more easily information on existing or potential ECIs so that they can actively participate in discussions and/or support the initiatives themselves;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises that several Commission processes, such as online public consultations, e-participation activities and impact assessments, could benefit from a wider use of new technologies in order to iencreasourage public participation, increase accountability in these processes and the transparency of the EU institutions, and enhance European governance; highlights the need to render public consultation processes effective and accessible to as many people as possible, while keeping technical barriers to the minimum;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to expand and develop e-participation in the Digital Single Market Strategy and to develop and implement specific pilot projects in order to promote and improve responsible and active European citizenship schemes;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that the development of e- administration should be a priority for Member States and the EU institutions and welcomes the Commission’'s ambitious and comprehensive e-government action plan, for which proper national implementation will be key; to this end, EU institutions and Member States should encourage and make use of ICT tools based on open source and free software;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for more cooperation at EU level and recommends the sharing of best practices for e-democracy projects as a way to move towards a form of democracy that is more participatory and deliberative and that responds to the requests and interests of the publiccitizens and aims to involve them in decision-making processes; calls on the Commission to provide an assessment of possible models of online voting for consideration by the Member States by the end of 2017, in time for the next European elections in 2019;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses the need to protect, by using distributed control mechanisms, privacy and personal data when using e- democracy tools and to foster a moren open and secure internet environment, particularly with regard to information and data security, guarantees against surveillance software, net neutrality, the setting- up of secure digital public registers and the validation of electronic signatures in order to prevent fraudulent multiple interactions; underlines that security issues must not become a deterrent to the inclusion of individuals and groups in democratic processes nor to impede the implementation and use of e-democracy tools;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Encourages public representatives to participate actively, with citizens, in existing forums, and use new media and IT platforms with a view to stimulating discussion and exchanging opinions and proposals with citizens (e-parliament) and create a direct connection with them;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on its Members and other EU Institutions to enhance transparency in their work, especially in the current challenging political context, and asks its administration to look into the possibility of setting up digital platforms, including the latest IT tools, in order to allow Members to communicate and positively engage with the constituents and stakeholders efficiently, with a view to informing them on EU and parliamentary activities, to opening up policy-making processes and increasing awareness of European democracy;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Encourages political parties at EU and national level to develop new ways to promote internal democracy in order to allow better communication with their members and supporters and with civil society and to be highly transparent and accountable towards citizens;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the EU and its institutions to be open to more experimentation with new e-participation methods such as crowdsourcing at EU level and at national, regional and local level and, to this end, launch specific pilot projects;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Calls on the European institutions to launch a participatory process in order to elaborate a European Charter of Internet rights, taking as reference the Italian Declaration of Internet Rights published by the Chamber of Deputies on 28 July 2015, enshrining all rights that play a fundamental role in the new digital era;