Activities of Pál CSÁKY related to 2016/2146(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Activities of the Committee on Petitions 2015 (debate) HU
Activities of the Committee on Petitions 2015 (A8-0366/2016 - Ángela Vallina) HU
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the activities of the Committee on Petitions 2015 PDF (761 KB) DOC (199 KB)
Amendments (42)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the number of petitions received is modest when compared to the EU’'s total population, which indicates that the vast majority of EU citizens are not yet aware of the right to petition, or of its possible usefulness as a means of drawing the attention of the EU institutions and the Member States to matters which affect and concern them, and come within the Union's field of activity;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas petitioners tend to be citizens engaged in the improvement and future well-being of our societies; whereas the experience of these citizens in regard to the processing of their petitions may determine their perception of the EU institutions and respect for the right to petition contained in EU law;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the right to petition has to be a key element for a participatory democracy; whereas petitions enable the European Parliament to listen to and help to solve problems affecting its citizens, and whereas the impact of EU legislation on the daily life of those living in the EU shouldEU citizens can be assessed also through said petitions;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas confidence in the system and in the European project as a whole has been dented by recent events in the United Kingdom, the humanitarian refugee crisis, the social and economic impact of the financial crisis, and the rise in xenophobia and racism throughout Europe; whereas the Committee on Petitions has the responsibility and the huge challenge of maintaining dialogue with EU citizens;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the Committee on Petitions is best able to show citizens what the European Union does for them and what solutions it can provide at European, national or local level; whereas the Committee on Petitions can do excellesignificant work explaining the successes and benefits of the European project;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the right to petition should enhance the European Parliament’'s capacity to react, helping to resolve problems relating mainly to how EU legislation is appliedapplication of EU law, as petitions constitute a valuable source of information in detecting deficiencies in how EU legislation is applied; whereas petitions are a basic tool in the early detection of those Member States lagging behind in transposition of EU law; whereas, through petitions, EU citizens can complain about shortages in implementation of EU law and help detect breaches of EU law;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas, therefore, petitions are very important for the legislative process as they provide other Parliament committees with useful and direct input for their legislative work in their respective fields; whereas petitions are not solely the responsibility of the Committee on Petitions, but should rather be a shared endeavour of all Parliament committees;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the Committee on Petitions has made greater use of the specific committee tools at its disposal, such as oral questions and short resolutions, so as to give visibility to the different issues of concern to citizens, or the sending of questions and resolutions to the plenary of Parliament, such as the resolutions on mortgage legislation and risky financial instruments in Spain or the best interests of children in Europe;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas during 2015 petitions lodged by citizens were processed faster and with greater efficiency, the timespan involved in correspondence with petitioners having been reduced; whereas the Committee succeeded in reducing the accumulated petition backlog; whereas figures indicate that the revised administrative procedure of the Parliament has a positive impact on the work of the Committee on Petitions;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas petitioners actively contribute to the work of the Committee, providing additional information to its members, the Commission and representatives of the concerned Member States who may be present; whereas petitioners, by taking part in these discussions and presenting their petitions along with more detailed information, contribute to establishing a fluid dialogue with Members of the European Parliament and with the European Commission; whereas in 2015, 191 petitioners attended and were involved in the Committee’s deliberations; whereas although this number seems relatively low, the meetings of the Committee on Petitions are broadcast, enabling petitioners to follow live discussions in real time by means of internet streaming;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas a specific way of handling petitions relating to the welfare of children has been adopted and a special working group created on the issue, whereas the aim and wthereas the group was constituted on 17 September 2015, having elected Eleonora Evi as its chair added value of the working group should be to deliver adequate and prompt answers to the problems raised in petitions regarding children;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas these petitions resulted in complaints on environmental issues; whereas the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Finlandone Member State regarding the transposition of the Directive on public access to environmental information; whereas in a further five cases regarding the environment the Commission initiated bilateral talks with the Member States concerned; whereas the cases were related to shale gas, management of wolves, the incorrect application of the Directive on strategic environmental assessment and compliance of national legislation with the requirements of the Directive on public access to environmental information;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas petitions filed by citizens also deal with justice issuesissues regarding justice and judicial cooperation, in one instance motivating the Commission to initiate a bilateral dialogue with a Member State on its restrictions regarding change of name after marriage;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital X
Recital X
X. whereas the key issues of concern raised in petitions pertain to a wide range of issues, such as environmental legislation (in particular, waste water treatment, waste management, gas and hydrocarbon prospection and extraction), fundamental rights (in particular the rights of the child and, of persons with disabilities and of minorities), the free movement of persons, discrimination, immigration, employment, animal welfare, the application of justice (in particular custody rights regarding minors) and breaches of consumer rights;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AC
Recital AC
AC. whereas the European Citizens’' Initiative (ECI) has to be an important tool for enabling citizens to directly participate in the EU polidevelopment of EU policies, and its potentical decision-must be exploited fully; whereas the making process, and its potential must be exploited fully differences between the ECI and the right to petition should be better communicated to the citizens; whereas the Parliament has a specific responsibility in rendering this instrument a real success; whereas, as emerged from statements in the public hearing of 22 February 2015, there is a widespread feeling on the part of organisations processregistering an ECI that the administrative barriers need to be removed in order to obtain the best possible results in regard to participation by citizens;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AE
Recital AE
AE. whereas in 2015, owing to the workload of the Committee on Petitions, only one fact-finding visit took place for petitions for which an inquiry was ongoing during 2015; whereas the fact-finding visit to the United Kingdom on 5 and 6 November 2015 on the issue of adoption without parental consent gave delegation members a deeper understanding of the situation as they were able to discuss the problem with representatives of the different UK institutions involved in the case;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF
Recital AF
AF. whereas in 2016, once the workload stabilised, three fact-finding visits were carried out with regard to petitions for which an inquiry was ongoing in 2016; whereas thefact-finding visits are a specific prerogative of the Committee and a fundamental part of its work, which entails interacting with petitioners and the authorities of the Member States concerned; whereas members of the Committee delegations take part in all activities, including the drafting of the final report, on an equal footing;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AH
Recital AH
AH. whereas on 26 May 2015 Emily O’Reilly, the European Ombudsman, presented her Annual Report for 2014 to Martin Schulz,the President of the European Parliament. whereas on 23 June 2015 the Ombudsman presented her report at the meeting of the Committee on Petitions, the body responsible for relations with her institution.
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the right to petition should enhance the European Parliament’'s capacity to react, helping to resolve problems relating mainly to implementation and application of EU legislation, as petitions constitute a useful source of information in detecting breaches in the implementation of EU legislationpotential breaches of EU law; in this regard and to better respond citizens' needs emphasizes the importance of complying with the administrative reform of the Parliament in order to make the work of the Committee on Petitions more effective;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the work that the Committee on Petitions carries out in listening to and helping to solvefinding solutions for problems affecting itsEU citizens; believes that petitions can help in assessing the impact that EU legislation has on their daily lives;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights the fact that the task of the Committee on Petitions ha, to maintain the dialogue with citizens is an opportunity and the hugea challenge of maintaining a dialogue with citizensin the same time as it has the possibility to bring the EU’s institutions and citizens together once again closer to its citizens;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that petitions are veryalso important for the legislative process, as they detect deficiencies in the transposition of Community legislation and provide other Parliament committees with useful and direct input for their legislative work in their respective fields; applauds the setting up ofintention to establish an informal petitions network within Parliament, with the participation of Members representing every committee of Parliament, in order to ensure smooth and effective coordination of petitions work; considers that petitions are not solely the responsibility of the Committee on Petitions, but should be a shared endeavour of all of the European Parliament’s committees; urgbelieves that the network will enable a better understanding of the role of the petitions within the parliamentary work and strengthen the cooperation between the committees in matters raised by the petitioners; invites all parliamentary committees concerned to pay due attention to the petitions forwarded to them and to provide the information necessary for petitions to be processed properly;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the fact that in 2015 the time taken to process petitions fellhas been reduced, maintains nonetheless that the Secretariat of the Committee on Petitions is in need of greater technical resources and personnel in order to guarantee a reduction in petitions processing should be digitalized, in particular through the introduction of new information and communication technologies in order to guarantee efficient and timely petitions treatment in compliance withe time taken to process petitionshe revised administration procedure;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that, as mentioned by the First Vice- President Timmermansof the European Commission at his meeting with the Committee on Petitions on 5 May 2015, the Commission is involved with and committed to the petition process and responds as quickly as possible to new petitions forwarded to it by Parliament; points out that Commission replies are usually detailed and pertain to the petitions for which it has jurisdiction; recalls however that on many occasions the Commission does not bring any new information in its replies to petitions for which a review has been requested owing to a change in their status and context; reminds the Commission that petitions which raise a potential breach of EU law can only be closed after their proper analysis has been concluded; notes that the written responses are monitored, as are explanations given during oral debates held by the Committee on Petitions; notes that when the Commission cannot provide a detailed response to a request from the Committee on Petitions, it is because it has no jurisdictioncompetence in the matter; notes the Commission’'s commitment in sending generally competent officials to meetings of the Committee on Petitions; regrets that during public debates with petitioners and Members of Parliament the officials sent by the Commission do not provide any new or relevant information that might enable a solution to the issues raisedthe committee meetings the answers of the Commission are generally limited to the content of the official reply sent to the Committee;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Confirms that, in the interests of transparency and in a spirit of faithful cooperation between the EU institutions, and pursuant to the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, upon request and where required the Commission will provide the European Parliament with a synthesis of the individual cases related to the EU Pilot procedures; notes that, according to confirmation from the Court of Justice, confidentiality requirements apply to dialogue between the Commission and Member States concerning open EU Pilot cases, and also notes that such information is confidential; reiterates its call on the Commission to inform the Committee on Petitions about the developments in infringement proceedings which are directly linked to petitions;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers essential improving the cooperation with national parliaments and their relevant committees and with Member State governments; repeats its call for launching a structured dialogue with Member States in the form of regular meetings with the relevant national parliament committees; is pleased that a delegation from the Committee on Petitions of the German Bundestag was present at the Committee meeting held on 4 May 2015;encourages the representatives of Member States and of local and/or regional authorities concerned to attend the meetings; highlights the need for of the Committee on Petitions; reminds at the importance of the participation of Council and Commission representatives to be present at meetings and hearings of the Committee on Petitions;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is pleased that in 2015 191 citizens presented their casepetitions directly to the Committee on Petitions; recalls and supports the increased use of videoconferencing or any other means that enables petitioners to become actively involved in the work of the Committee on Petitions when they cannot be physically present;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. NotesTakes note of the restrictive and narrow interpretation of the European Commission in relation to Article 51(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights which states, inter alia, that the Charter is addressed to the Member States ‘'only when they are implementing Union law’'; notes that Article 51(2) of the Charter states that the Charter ‘'does not extend the field of application of Union law beyond the powers of the Union’'; notes, however, that this does not mean that citizens are unprotected if they believe that their fundamental rights have been violated in cases where EU law is not applied, as in such cases it is up to the Member States to ensure the protection of fundamental rights in accordance with their national legislation and international obligations; reminds that the expectations of EU citizens often go beyond the Charter; invites the Commission to consider a new approach that is more consistent with those expectations in line with the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Points to the important ongoing work carried out by the Committee on Petitions in the context of the application of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; duly notes that 2015 was a very significant year in that for the first time a United Nations agency reviewed the fulfilment of human rights obligations in the EU; is pleased to note that a United Nations committee had the opportunity to hear all the details regarding the protection provided by the Committee on Petitions; underscores that the Commission has begun to incorporate the concluding observations by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into the petition treatment process1 ; is pleased to note that the public hearing ‘Protecting the rights of people with disabilities, from the perspective of petitions received’ organised by the Committee on Petitions on 15 October 2015, was highly accessible; draws attention to the importance of the findings of the study commissioned by Policy Department C entitled ‘The protection role of the Committee on Petitions in the context of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’; considers it important that the Committee on Petitions continues to organise events focusing on petitions in the field of disability; calls for the capacity of the Committee on Petitions and its Secretariat to be enhanced to enable it to properly fulfil its protection role; calls for the establishment of a designated officer responsible for the processing of disabilities-related issues; notes the Committee’s significant follow-up action in 2015 with regard to disability with respect to more specific topics such as the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty (petition No 0924/2011), the unlocking of the anti-discrimination Directive (petition No 0360/2009), exemption from customs duties for certain products designed to promote the cultural, educational or scientific advancement of persons with disabilities (petition No 0240/2015) or family caregivers (petition No 0098/2015)or family caregivers; __________________ 1 Adopted by the UN Committee at its 14nth session (17 August to 4 September 2015); see: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatyb odyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=C RPD%2fC%2fEU%2fCO%2f1&Lang=en
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses the wide range of subjects raised in the petitions filed by citizens, such as fundamental rights, the rights of persons with disabilities, rights of persons belonging to different minorities, rights of children, the internal market, environmental law, labour relations, migration policies, trade agreements, public health issues, child welfare, transport, animal rights and discrimination;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Emphasizes the sensitive character of the petitions related to children's rights as in such cases there is a need to urgently and adequately respond to petitioners' concerns while preserving children's best interests, with regard to the investigation nature of the PETI Committee, underlines that any working group should have a clear mandate in compliance with the revised petitions administrative procedure in the EP to deliver tangible results and to avoid any unjustified delay in the petitions treatment;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that the organisation of public hearings is an important way of good way of better examining problems raised by petitioners; draws attention to the public hearings organised on 26 February 2015 with the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in response to the ECI on ‘Water is a Human Right’, and with the Committee on Legal Affairs for the ECI entitled ‘One of Us’underlines the importance of the hearing organised on the Right to Petition on 23 June 2015; additionally draws attention to the public hearings organised together/jointly with other committees of the Parliament as the hearing on the European Citizens' Initiative with the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, the hearing on the Reform of the Brussels II Regulation with the Committee on Legal Affairs; the hearing in response to the ECI on 'Water is a Human Right' with the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the hearing on the European Citizens' Initiative "Stop Vivisection" with the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the hearing for the ECI entitled 'One of Us' organized together with the Committee on Legal Affairs; also finds useful the workshop held together with the Committee on Legal Affairs on cross- border adoptions for identifying the possible solutions in specific matters;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Considers that the European Citizens’' Initiative (ECI) is a new politicalas the latest right forof EU citizens as well as a relevant agenda-setting tool for participatory democracy in the European Union, allowingshould enable interested citizens to play an active part in projects and processes that affect them, andrecalls that the potential of whichthe ECI instrument must unquestionably be exploited to the full and significantly enhanced in order to achieve the best results and to encourage as many EU citizens as possible to participate in the further development of the European integration process; likewise considers that it must be one of the EU’'s priority objectives to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of its institutions; reminds the European Commission of the need to follow up on all the recommendations made in the European Parliament resolution of 28 October 2015 on the European Citizens’' Initiative (2014/2257(INI) to ensure thereby that the right to present a European Citizens’ Initiative is properly implemented; reaffirms its commitment to being proactively involved in organising public hearings for successful initiatives; undertakes to give priority, at institutional level, to the effectiveness of this participative process and to ensuring due legislative follow-up;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Deplores the fact that the Commission considers that it is too early to revise Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 of 1 April 2012 which entered into force three years ago; considers that it is necessary to thoroughly evaluate its implementation to identify possible deficiencies and propose workable solutions with a view to revising it soon; welcomes the Commission’s report of 31 March 2015 on the ECI, and the European Ombudsman’s Decision OI/9/2013/TN, and calls on the Commission to ensure, in its revision of this instrument, that all the appropriate legal measures are taken with a view to providing proper follow-up when an ECI is deemed to have been completed successfully; calls on the Commission, in view of the various weaknesses identified, to present a proposal for reform of Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 as soon as possible;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Draws attention to its resolution of 8 October 2015 on mortgage legislation and risky financial instruments in Spain in the light of the petitions received, concerning which Parliament issued a series of recommendations for the proper application of EU mortgage legislation; calls on the Commission to supervise closely the implementation in all Member States of Directive 2014/17/EU on credit agreements and to share best practices in order to improve protection ofor citizens in financial difficulties;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Urges the competent administrative bodies to expedite the steps still needed to conclude the introduction of the remaining project phases whereby petitioners will be able to receive information on the status of their petition, be and be automatically notified of changes in the processing procedure through automated e-mail messages and directly contact officials of the Committee on Petitions for clear, direct information on the evolution of the issue concerning them; underlines that the web portal is a crucial information source for EU citizens, therefore information on the lifecycle of the petition should be provided;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Emphasises the important role of SOLVIT, a problem-solving network between the Member States which should be thoroughly developed to its full potential in collaboration with the States and their national SOLVIT centres under their national administrations, and requests that it be given more resources and, and requests that a more systematic analysis of the problems identified by SOLVIT be conducted as this network helps to give a realistic picture of the dysfunctions of the single market;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23