Activities of Nikolaos CHOUNTIS related to 2013/2186(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the EU Citizenship Report 2013. EU citizens: your rights, your future PDF (174 KB) DOC (90 KB)
Amendments (7)
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas public confidence in the European Union has justifiably fallen to historically low levels due also to the continuation of the austerity policies and their consequences on the lives of the European citizens, notably on the MS of the European South; whereas the 2014 elections will be the first to be held after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which significantly widens the powers of the European Parliament; whereas the European elections need to aim at strengthening public trust inthe voice and the prolitical system and creating a European public spheree of the citizens which is one of the most important preconditions in order to strengthen democracy in the Member States and the EU;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Deplores the fact that 20 % of the budget for the ‘Europe for Citizens programme has now been allocated to a strand on ‘Remembrance which is no less than a rewriting of history in order to amalgamate ‘Communism , even if it is described as totalitarianism and ‘Nazism ; states that the role of historians is vital and denounces the exploitation of history for political ends, maintaining that European historical memory is primarily a matter of sharing by European cultures in need of better mutual understanding and complementarity;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Emphasises that education, provided it is accessible to all, plays a vitally important role in the formation of future citizens by enabling them to acquire a solid basis of general knowledge, including an informed understanding of European integration and of the history and cultures of the European peoples; notes in this respect that civic education is essential as a means of enabling individuals to participate fully in democratic, social and cultural life and regard themselves as citizens of Europe from as early an age as possible; denounces therefore the austerity measures and cuts in education budgets in most of the Member States and is of the view that they constitute one of the main barriers to exercising citizenship;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Emphasises that formal and informal education play a vitally important role in both the teaching and the exercise of citizenship, as they promote individual empowerment, solidarity and mutual understanding and strengthen social cohesion; believes that it is particularly important to encourage recognition of volunteers’ commitment, to validate the skills and expertise acquired in this way and to remove obstacles relating to free movement, including those involving third countries and their nationals, particularly those living in the European Union; considers likewise recognition of the Statute for a European Association to be important and that this may, moreover, facilitate the construction of projects between citizens of different EU Member States;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States to fully respect the human rights and the dignity of all the third countries citizens that try to reach and arrive on EU soil, regardless of travelling with or without documents; Recalls that solidarity among the Member States is needed in order to guarantee the above and calls on the Commission to regularly monitor the way in which the administrative formalities related to entry and residence are processed in the Member States in order to guarantee the full application of human rights;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on those Member States that disenfranchise their own nationals who choose to live in another Member State for an extended period of time to put an end to this practice and revise their legislation accordingly to provide full citizenship rights; recommends that the Member States take all steps to effectively assist citizens who wish to vote or stand as candidates in states other than their own; Stresses the need for the EU citizens to exercise their right of vote for the national elections of their country of origin from the Member State in which they reside.
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Member States to organise transparent public campaigns and effectively tackle the problem of falling voter participation rates and the widening gap between citizens and the EU institutions; calls on all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies to further improve transparency and, make access to documents easy and user- friendly, and involve citizens in EU policymaking, as this enables citizens to participate more closely in the decision- making process; calls on the Union’s institutions and particularly the European Commission to improve the efficiency of their procedures so that legitimate requests by EU citizens are met as quickly as possible, notably as regards replying to petitions;