25 Amendments of Judith SARGENTINI related to 2010/0074(COD)
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) It is necessary to establish the minimum number of Member States from which citizens must come. In order to ensure that a citizens' initiative is representative of a Union interest, this number should be set at one thirdfifth of Member States.
Amendment 37 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) It is appropriate to fix a minimum age for supporting a citizens' initiative. This should be set ast the age at which citizens are entitled to vote in the European Parliament electionof 16 years.
Amendment 38 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7 a (new)
Recital 7 a (new)
(7a) A minimum organised structure is needed in order to successfully carry through a citizens' initiative. This should take the form of a citizens' committee, composed of natural persons (organisers) coming from a number of different Member States, in order to encourage the emergence of European-wide issues and to foster reflection on those issues. For the sake of transparency and smooth and efficient communication, the citizens' committee should designate representatives to perform a liaison function between the committee and the institutions of the Union throughout the procedure.
Amendment 40 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) In order to ensure coherence and transparency in relation to proposed citizens' initiatives, and to avoid a situation in which signatures are collected for a proposal which does not fall within the scope of this Regulation, it should be mandatory to register such initiatives on a website made available by the Commission prior to collecting the necessary statements of support from citizens; proposals that are abusive or devoid of seriousness should not be registered and the Commission should reject the registration of proposals which would be manifestly against the values of the Union. The Commission should deal with registration in accordance with the general principles of good administrationnot citizens' initiatives in accordance with this Regulation should not be registered. Registration is an administrative procedure aimed at selecting those initiatives that fall within the scope of this Regulation; therefore any refusal of registration should be based only on legal grounds and not, on any account, on grounds of political expediency. The Commission should deal with registration in accordance with the general principles of good administration, and should therefore be obliged to inform the organisers of an initiative of the reasons for any refusal to register an initiative and of the legal remedies available to them in that event. It should also be made clear by the Commission that registration and the collection of the required number of statements of support will not necessarily result in the Commission adopting a proposal for a legal act and that the registration of an initiative does not constitute a formal decision on competence issues.
Amendment 43 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The organiser of a proposed citizens' initiative should be responsible for the collection of the necessary statements of support from citizenOnce a proposal is registered as a citizens' initiative, statements of support from citizens may be submitted by the organisers.
Amendment 44 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) In order to put modern technology to good use as a tool of participatory democracy, it is appropriate to provide for statements of support to be collected in paper form as well as online. Online collection systems should have adequate security features in place in order to ensure, inter alia, that the person can be identifiedis eligible to sign and signs only once, and that the data are securely stored. For this purpose, the CommissThe detailed technical specifications should be required to set ouworked out at an expert level and be regularly adapted to technical developments; the power to adopt detailed technical specifications for online collection systems should therefore be delegated to the Commission.
Amendment 50 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
Amendment 53 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
Amendment 55 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) In the absence of a competent Union electoral authority, it is appropriate to provide that, where a citizens' initiative has received the necessary statements of support from signatories and provided it is considered admissible, each Member State should be responsible for the verification and certification of statements of support collected from citizens coming from that State. Taking account of the need to limit the administrative burden for Member States, they should, within a period of three months, carry out such verifications on the basis of appropriate checks, which may be based on random sampling, and should issue a document certifying the number of valid statements of support received.
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) The Commission should examine a citizens' initiative and set out its conclusions and the actions it envisages to take in response to it, within a period of four monthslegal and political conclusions separately; it should also set out the actions it envisages to take in response to it. In order to demonstrate that a citizens' initiative supported by at least one million Union citizens and its possible follow-up are carefully examined, the Commission should explain in a clear, comprehensible and detailed manner the reasons for its intended action, and should likewise give reasons if it does not envisage taking any action.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17 a (new)
Recital 17 a (new)
(17a) The European Parliament may take any appropriate action within its powers in order to ensure that the voice of the citizens is heard.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – point 1
Article 2 – point 1
1. "Citizens" initiative" means an initiative, submitted to the Commission in accordance with the present Regulation, inviting the Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaties, which has received the support of at least one million eligible signatories coming from at least one thirdfifth of all Member States;
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – point 3
Article 2 – point 3
3. "Organisers" means a natural or legal person or organisationpersons forming a citizens´ committee responsible for the preparation and submission of a citizens' initiative to the Commission.
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
1. Where the organiser is a natural person, that personOrganisers shall be a citizens of the Union and be of the age to be entitled to vote in the European electionsat least 16 years old.
Amendment 73 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Organisers shall form a citizens' committee of at least seven persons who are residents of at least one fifth of the Member States. The organisers shall designate one representative and one substitute. They shall perform a liaison function between the citizens' committee and the institutions of the European Union throughout the procedure. They shall be mandated to speak and act on behalf of the citizens' committee.
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
2. In order to be eligible to support a proposed citizens' initiative, signatories shall be citizens of the Union and shall be of the age to be entitled to vote in the European electionsat least 16 years old.
Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraphs 3 and 3 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraphs 3 and 3 a (new)
3. PThe Commission shall register a proposed cinitizens' initiatives which can be reasonably regarded as improper because they are abusive or devoid of seriousness will not be registeredative within two months from its receipt when the following conditions are fulfilled: (a) the citizens' committee has been formed and the contact persons have been designated; (b) the title, subject-matter and objectives of the proposed initiative are identical in all linguistic versions; (c) the Commission is empowered under the Treaties to submit a proposal for the requested legal act; (d) the proposed initiative is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious; (e) the proposed initiative is not manifestly contrary to the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. 3a. The Commission shall refuse registration if the conditions laid down in paragraph 3 are not met.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 2
2. Prior to initiating the collection of statements of support from signatories, the organiser shall ensure that the online collection system used for that purpose complies with the provisions of paragraph 4. The organiser may, at any time, ask the relevant competent authority of the Member State in which the data collected is or will be stored, to certify that the online collection system complies with those provisions. The organisercitizens' committee shall, in any case, request that certification prior to starting the collection of statements of support and prior to submitting all statements of support for verification in accordance with Article 9. The Commission shall develop an open- source software comprising the technical and security features necessary for compliance with the provisions of this Regulation regarding online collection systems. The software shall be freely made available to citizens' committees.
Amendment 98 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – point a
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – point a
a. only natural persons eligible to sign may submit a statement of support form online;
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – point b
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – point b
b. the identity of the personfact that each person submits only one statement can be verified;
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 1
1. The signatories of a citizens' initiative shall come from at least one thirdfifth of Member States.
Amendment 105 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2
Article 7 – paragraph 2
2. In one thirdfifth of Member States, signatories shall comprise at least the minimum number of citizens set out in Annex I.
Amendment 107 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 3
Article 7 – paragraph 3
3. Signatories shall be considered as coming from the Member State which issued the identification document indicated in their statement of supportere they have their permanent residence.
Amendment 115 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
The organiser shall submit statements of support to the Member State that issued the identification document indicated thereinwhere the signatories have their permanent residence.