7 Amendments of Morten MESSERSCHMIDT related to 2014/2257(INI)
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the Citizens’ Initiative is an exceptional opportunity for citizens to identify and articulate their aspirations and to ask for EU actionthe EU to act or to cease acting, and that it must be encouraged, improved and supported; further stresses that the use of one’s mother tongue is a civic right, and that all activities connected with an ECI may therefore be undertaken in one’s mother tongue;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Commission to provide as much guidance as possible – especially of a legal nature – to organisers of ECIs via the Europe Direct Contact Centre, so that they are aware of the possibilities open to them and will not fail by proposing an ECI that is outside the Commission’s powers, or else to assign the task of giving advice to another independent company or body so as to avoid a possible conflict of interest within the Commission itself; notes, however, that under the Treaty of Lisbon the issues raised by ECIs may not correspond entirely to the Commission’s jurisdiction; takes the view, furthermore, that the Commission should consider setting up a dedicated ECI office in each Member Stateinstruct each of its permanent representations in the Member States to provide all the necessary information, advice and support for citizens’ initiatives;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that under the terms of Article 4 of Regulation 211/2011, in the event of a refusal by the Commission to register an ECI, ‘the Commission shall inform the organisers of the reasons for such refusal and of all possible judicial and extrajudicial remedies available to them’; acknowledges, in this connection, the many complaints from organisers about not receiving detailed and exhaustive reasons for the rejection of their ECIs, and invites the Commission to provide as manyll the elements as possible in order to explain the reasonssubstantiating its decision declaring an ECI inadmissible in order that the validity and complete objectivity of those elements can be subject to legal scrutiny and to guide organisers to a possible solution;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Invites the Member States to be flexible in their verification when they receive statements of support for an ECI which are just above the threshold of 1 million signatures, with a view to allowing its submission; calls, in any event, on the competent national authorities to inform the national parliaments’ European affairs committees on a periodic basis about ECIs in progress which have already gathered a significant number of signatures;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls onUrges the Commission to revise the wording of Article 10(c) of Regulation 211/2011 to allow proper follow-up to a successful ECI, including a parliamentary debate in plenary followed by a vote on the ECIall initiatives which have reached the threshold of 1 million signatures from at least one-quarter of the Member States to be effectively and efficiently followed up, in particular by forwarding them to the national parliaments for an opinion and then a debate followed by a vote by the European Parliament in plenary session; urges the Commission to start preparing a legal act on successful ECIs within 12 months of their acceptance;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls on the Commission to revise the wording of Article 10(c) of Regulation 211/2011 to allow any European Citizens’ Initiative meeting the conditions laid down in Article 11(4) TEU in respect of which it has decided not to submit a proposal to be authorised for debate in the European Parliament, followed by a vote, where necessary after the national parliaments have delivered an opinion;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Takes the view that, in order to emphasise the political dimension of ECIs, a public hearing held under the terms of Article 11 of Regulation 211/2011 should be structured in such a way as to allow organisers to engage in a dialogue with Members of the European Parliament and Members of the national parliaments concerned; stresses that hearings on ECIs should be organised by a neutral committee that does not have the main responsibility for their subject-matter;