Activities of Antoni COMÍN I OLIVERES related to 2022/2024(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Deliberations of the Committee on Petitions in 2021 (debate)
Amendments (13)
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T a (new)
Recital T a (new)
T a. whereas the Committee on Petitions should gradually shift towards broader policy directions at the EU level which do not necessarily entail concrete legislative action;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises the fundamental role of the Committee on Petitions in protecting and promoting the rights of EU citizens and residents by ensuring that petitioners’ concerns and complaints are examined in a timely and, effective, appropriate and non- discriminatory manner and that they are resolved, wherever possible, through an open, democratic and transparent petitions process;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls that petitions contribute considerably to the Commission’s role as guardian of the Treaties; stresses that more structured means of collaboration and reinforced cooperation between the Committee on Petitions and the Commission through timely and detailed answers from the Commission, which are based on thorough examination of the issues raised in petitions, are essential to ensure the successful treatment of petitions: points out that the impact of petitions on the initiation of infringement proceedings should be duly recognized; reiterates its call on the Commission for regular updates on developments in infringement proceedings and for access to relevant Commission documents on infringements and EU Pilot procedures which have been closed;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Underlines that increased attention should be given to the adoption of a European legislative act that seals the recognition of LGTB rights;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to assess whether national authorities are taking the necessary measures to respond to citizens’ concerns as expressed in their petitions where cases of systemic failure in compliance with EU law occur, as well as to trigger infringement procedures where necessary;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Points out that petitions related to the rights of national minorities remained on the agenda of the Committee on Petitions, especially in the areas of discriminatory practices concerning their right to education in their autochthonous mother tongue, linguistic or cultural rights, and other rights such as the right to property, as outlined in petitions concerning land confiscation and restitution cases in some Member States;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that environmental issues remained an area of serious concern for petitioners in 2021; regrets that environmental rules are not always correctly implemented in the Member States, as described in numerous petitions raising complaints about air pollution, the deterioration of natural ecosystems, nuclear safety and the alteration of biodiversity; points to the important work carried out by the Committee on Petitions to highlight the impact of mining activities on the environment, as demonstrated by the number of petitions received on this topic; draws attention to the public hearing of 2 December 2021 on the environmental and social impacts of mining activity in the EU, held by the Committee on Petitions in association with the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, in order to acquire scientific knowledge on various aspects including mining legislation, safety standards, the social and environmental impacts of mines, environmental citizenship, public participation and transparency in the mining sector; insists that Member States should always prioritize the implementation of the precautionary and do no harm principles when considering the authorisation of projects that have an impact on the environment;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Draws attention to the joint hearing of the Committee on Petitions and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of 25 February 2021 on plastics and waste management in the circular economy, which focused on the implementation of the current legislative framework on plastic waste, addressing the main challenges encountered by the Member States as well as highlighting the opportunities that the legal framework provides with a view to reducing the impact of plastic in the environment across Europe; calls on the Commission to trigger the appropriate legislative initiatives to strongly limit the production of consumer goods with plastics;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses the importance of delivering on EU citizens’ expectations regarding the protection of the environment, and in particular of taking action in the field of water policy to reduce pollution and hazardous residues of chemical substances; points, in this regard, to the resolution of 23 March 2021 on chemical residues in the Baltic Sea, based on Petitions Nos 1328/2019 and 0406/2020 (2021/2567(RSP))8 ; welcomes, in this regard, the legislative proposal for a new Directive on environmental criminality and insists on the need to establish the crime of ecocide for unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts; _________________ 8 Adopted by Parliament as a resolution on 27 April 2021. OJ C 506, 15.12.2021, p. 9.
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Urges the Commission, together with the Member States, to ensure the correct implementation of EU legislation in the environmental field; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to propose a revision of the Directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability that harmonizes the actions of the competent authorities of the Member States in relation to inspection activities, the initiation and development of sanctioning procedures, the specification in the criteria for assessing environmental damage, the mechanisms for attributing environmental damage or situations of imminent danger to the environment, as well as the prevention of insolvency situations through the implementation of a harmonized framework to guarantee the solvency of companies in the event of a sanction that reinforces the preventive function of said Directive;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that increased attention should be given to multilingualism in the EU, including regional or minority languages; encourages in this sense the EU institutions to make use of as many official languages as possible, as well as regional or minority languages -especially those with official status in the territory of a Member State- where appropriate; underlines that the EU language policy should take into account that more than 40 million EU citizens speak regional or minority languages;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses that the ECI is an important instrument for active citizenship and public participation; welcomes the discussion in several meetings as petitions of some unsuccessful ECIs, which gave citizens the opportunity to expose their ideas and hold a constructive debate, as well as facilitating the participation of EU citizens in the democratic process of the Union; takes note of the significant number of new ECIs registered by the Commission in 2021, which shows that citizens are seizing the opportunity to use participatory instruments to have a say in policy and law-making processes; calls on the Commission to better engage with citizens and give adequate follow-up to successful ECIs; considers that the Commission should always accept the initiation of legislative procedures proposed by successful ECIs and that at least it should better justify the cases in which it rejects the initiation of such legislative procedures;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Underlines that the Petitions Web Portal is an essential tool for ensuring a smooth, efficient and transparent petitions process; welcomes, in this regard, the improvements to data protection and security features which have made the portal more user-friendly and secure for citizens; stresses that efforts must be continued to make the portal more accessible and known to citizens, including to persons with disabilities;