Activities of Alin MITUȚA related to 2022/2206(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Implementation of the Regulations on the European citizens' initiative (short presentation)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of the Regulations on the European citizens’ initiative
Amendments (20)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
— having regard to the Report on the Final Outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe, proposals 36 and 37, as well as the recommendations of European Citizens’ Panel 2 “European democracy / Values and rights, rule of law, security” in particular;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the Commission has received 122 ECI requests since the introduction of the ECI instrument, 97 of which have been registered; whereas the Commission has received 28 ECI requests under the revised ECI Regulation, 25 of which have been registered, while two are currently being assessed; whereas 20 ECI requests have been withdrawn by the organisers before the end of the collection period; whereas 47 ECIs have not reached the threshold of one million signatures by the end of the collection period;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
J a. whereas the final conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe recommend that the effectiveness of existing citizens’ participation should be improved by better informing on them and by making them more secure, accessible, visible and inclusive; whereas citizens panels of the Conference recommended that the EU should be closer to citizens in a more assertive way and that the EU should promote the use of mechanisms of citizens’ participation;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Points out that the ECI is the onlyshould be an important tool for participatory democracy at EU level that can potentially lead to a proposal for a legal act of the Union; regrets, however, that the overall number of valid ECIs and the impact of the instrument on EU decision-making remains very low; considers it therefore essential to involvesignificantly strengthen the participation of citizens, in particular young people, in the democratic life of the Union; recalls, therefore, that both the regulatory and institutional framework and the use of the ECI instrument must be enhanced by all available means;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Welcomes the partial registration of ECIs legally introduced by the revised ECI Regulation as a first step toward an increased admissibility and more effective institutional follow-up of ECIs; points out, however, that EU institutions also have a democratic duty to support the citizens concerned and help provide follow-up where a registered ECI falls outside of the EU’s remit;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Underlines the importance of integrating eID-type systems in ECI signatures and encourages their use, including the new European eID system;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights that organising an ECI is a too demanding and costly process; acknowledgeregrets that it is very difficult for individual citizens to manage ECIs without being supported by associations with strong organisational capacity and financial means; underlines, therefore, the need to reduce regulatory, administrative and financial hurdles for individual citizens as much as possible; notes that there are major differences between the financial resources available to different ECIs; underlines, therefore, the need for financial support for the organisation of ECIs;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points to the imbalance between citizens’ expectations, the huge amount of effort and extensive resources necessary to organise ECIs and their weak political and legal effects, even if the required threshold of one million signatures is reached, which may deterdiscourages citizens from launching ECIs; stresses the need to reduce regulatory hurdles during the registration phase as much as possible to fully exploit the ECI’s potential as an agenda-setting tool;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Believes that ECIs could get much more support and publicity if they were also promoted on relevant platforms at national level; encourages interlinking the website of the EU on the ECI with appropriate online platforms at national level on citizens’ participation;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets the weak political and legal impact of valid ECIs; stresses that, for the objectives of the revised ECI Regulation to be achieved and the full potential of this instrument to be realised, the Commission needs to appropriately consider and respond to valid ECIs;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Highlights that active and effective citizens’ participation in the democratic life of the EU, including the ECI, is strongly linked to citizenship education; reiterates the need to include and further strengthen the attention for EU politics and participatory democracy in education programs and curricula across the EU;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Underlines that the ECI must be made more accessible for citizens by all available means; underlines the need to continue to raise awareness of this participatory instrument, in particular by promoting it on social media and including it in civic education curriculums, in order to reach as many citizens as possible, especially young people; underlines that the EU should be more visible, and better integrated, in teaching materials and extracurricular activities, given its impact on the everyday life of its citizens; considers that teaching materials should include information about ECIs;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Commits to review Article 11(4) TEU as well as the other relevant Treaty provisions to assess how the ECI instrument can be made more accessible for citizens and the institutional follow-up strengthened;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9 b. Calls on the Commission to reconsider the criteria for registering an ECI, including by also allowing the registration of ECIs outside the framework of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties, and also on topics which would require a change of the Treaties;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9 c. Calls on the Commission to consider ways to provide more effective follow-up to registered ECIs outside of the EU’s remit through a structured cooperation with Member States;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9 d. Recommends that the EU engages with Member States to ensure that direct democracy and citizens’ participation in EU decision-making becomes part of education programs and curricula across the EU;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to provide progressive financial support for ECIs that reach thecertain threshold of one million signatures in signature collection (eg. 250 000, 500 000, 1 000 000), thus encouraging a performance- based process;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Calls on the Commission to launch a Citizens' Panel of randomly selected citizens on every ECI that reaches the threshold of one million signatures, thus raising the profile of the initiative and nurturing the follow-up process;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recommends thatCommits to follow-up on every valid ECI and every Commission communication setting out its legal and political conclusions on a specific ECI be followed by a vote onwith a parliamentary resolution, which would require the modification of Rule 222(8) and (9) of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, or, where relevant, with an legislative own-initiative report (INL);
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Calls for the creation of a central hub of all the participatory instruments used in the European Union, in order to develop synergies and increase the up- take of these instruments, while limiting the fragmentation of the citizens’ participation infrastructure;