Activities of Seán KELLY related to 2020/2201(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Citizens’ dialogues and Citizens’ participation in the EU decision-making
Amendments (29)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas according to several Eurobarometer surveys, a large proportion of EU citizens are not satisfied with the way democracy works in the EU and tend to distrust the EU institutionsthe results of the 2019 European elections sent a positive signal that European citizens are taking an increasing interest in developments at EU level and that they believe that EU legislation has an impact on their daily lives; whereas in Civic Engagement Eurobarometer 20201a, voting in European elections was regarded by 55% of respondents as the most effective way of ensuring voices are heard by decision- makers at EU level; whereas, not only is this perception presenevertheless, according to several Eurobarometer surveys, a proportion of EU citizens are not sat EU level, but also at national level;isfied with the way democracy works in the EU; _________________ 1aFlash Eurobarometer (FL4023) en- report.pdf (europa.eu)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas overall turnout at the recent European Parliament elections was 50.6%, the highest turnout since the 1994 elections and a notable increase from 2014 where the turnout was 42.6%; whereas, although the turnout in 2019 was higher among all groups of the population, the increase was led by the younger generation, with large increases among people aged under 25 and aged 25–39; whereas despite the overall increase in turnout large differences remain between individual Member States;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas the European Union is founded on the idea of representative democracy; whereas in a representative democracy accountability through elections is the key source of legitimacy; whereas such accountability does not exist for other means of citizen's participation;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the legal and political impact ofdemocratic elections to the European Parliament constitute the onlymain bottom-up instruments for citizens in the EU, whilst other means, namely the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), complaints to the European Ombudsman and petitions to Parliament, is rather minimal are important supplements for vibrant Parliamentarism;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas citizens of the EU and any natural or legal person residing in or with a registered office in a Member State have the right to submit petitions to the European Parliament under Article 24 TFEU and Article 227 TFEU whenever the matter affects them directly and falls within the EU fields of activity;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas there have been six successful European Citizens' Initiatives to date, most recently the "Minority Safepack" initiative and the "End the Cage Age" initiative; whereas the "Minority Safepack" initiative was the first ECI to have been debated in the European Parliament based on the new ECI regulation, and was overwhelmingly supported by Parliament in December 2020 with 76% of the votes cast;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the need to reflect on how the Union can become more democratic and effective; believes that a profound reform of the Union and possible changes to the Treaties, which wouldeffective in engaging with citizens under the Union's core principles of representative democracy; believes that citizens should have a greater voice in EU decision- making to make the Union more refflective, united, democratic, solidary, sovereign and resilient, are strengthened by directly engaging with of citizens' views and more resilient, democratic and effective; in this regard, believes that Treaty change should not be precluded, although it should not be a goal in itself, and that the Conference on the Future of Europe is the appropriate forum to discuss this possibility; stresses that citizens should have a clear understanding of citizen engagement and dialogue structures so that expectation meets reality, otherwise there is a risk of disenfranchising citizens;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the need to reflect on how the Union can become more democratic and effective; believes that a profound reform of the Union and possible changes to the Treaties, which would make the Union more effective, united, democratic, solidary, sovereign and resilifocused, capable, and accountable, are necessitated, whereas this includes improving the democratic responsiveness of EU institutions towards Parliament, are strengthened by directly engaging with citizensnd of Parliament itself towards the European electorate;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the existing participatory instruments should be improved to make citizens’ participation more accessible; opines that, to facilitate public participation in wider political discourse and equip the public with the opportunity to influence political outcomes, with synergies in existing mechanisms, it is imperative that citizen engagement is structured in a way that creates realistic expectations and provides a benefit to strategic agenda of the Union by further legitimising policy; believes that this bottom-up participatory agenda should be capable of complementing, not substituting, representative democracy in the EU;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines the benefit of engaging with citizens in the development of a European public sphere and inat not all stakeholders, notably citizens and civil society groups, are equally active politically, equally vocal, and influential; the reinforcement of the democratic legitimacy of the EUe, believes that EU participatory democracy requires supporting unorganized citizens and promoting their access to electoral and participatory opportunities within and outside EU channels;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that the EU institutions have to be informed of citizens’ concerns and need to be more attentive to these concernsincreased information sharing regarding citizens’ concerns will assist the EU institutions in their efforts to be attentive and responsive to these concerns under the Union's core principles of representative democracy;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines the need to engage with young people in particular in a political debate on the future of Europe, as today’s decisions will determine their future; emphasises that the Erasmus+ programme should be utilised to enhance European citizenship education, especially amongst students and young people;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Highlights that it is clear there is a mismatch between the expectations of citizens from the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) and the ECI’s capacity to lead to legislative output; underlines that communication on citizen engagement needs to highlight the practical role of any mechanisms, otherwise failing to meet expectations will reduce participation, and in turn legitimacy; points out that new mechanisms should seek to increase the transparency of the follow-up stage and enhance the deliberative character of the ECI model; believes that the Commission should proactively address the concerns of the initiators and carry out a sufficient assessment including possible instruments to achieve stated goals; notes that the Commission must fully comply with its legal obligation to state sufficient reasons for why it did or did not take action on an ECI, and believes this needs to be more comprehensive to ensure citizens are provided with an accurate picture of what should be expected from engagement with or launching of an ECI;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged the use of digital media and online conference systems, therefore sees further opportunities that digitalisation offers for civic engagement in times of crisis; points out that this has helped citizens to participate more quickly, widely and inclusively in decision-making; believes that the EU should promote new and innovative ways of citizen engagement, enabling the use of digital technology tools that facilitate multilingual dialogue with citizens;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Points out the New European Bauhaus initiative as a recent innovation to encourage and facilitate citizens’ participation; highlights that the initiative brings citizens, experts, businesses, and institutions together and facilitates conversations about making tomorrow’s living spaces more affordable and accessible;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the need for permanentimportance of effective participatory mechanisms to allow forfurther facilitate and encourage citizens’ participation in EU decision- making;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Highlights the fact that regularly held citizens’ dialogues could serve different purposes, such as determining annual political or legislative priorities, developing specific proposals in relation to specific questions, or discussing institutional matters or deciding on the spending of certain public resources; ; underlines, however, that while citizens’ dialogues will prove to be beneficial in some areas, it is important that citizens have a clear understanding of engagement outcomes, including inherent limitations, with appropriate, and transparent, follow-up procedures; stresses the need for them to be of non- binding and advisory character only;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses the need to enhance the European dimension of citizenship education in order to enable citizens’ participation and ability to act as responsible citizens and to fully participate in civic and social life at both, the European level as well as the Member State level, based on understanding of social, economic, legal and political concepts and structures, as well as global developments and sustainability;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Proposes to establish a European Network for Citizenship Education to provide a platform for exchange on best- practices and knowledge on methods of enhancing the European dimension of citizenship education;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls that, prior to the launching of these dialogues, the EU institutions must commit themselves to following up on their outcome in the light of their competences and legislative procedures; notes that citizens’ disappointment often stems from politicians over-promising and under-deliveringhighlights that any new participation instrument should be accompanied by a significant communication campaign, with high-level political engagement at EU and national level, similar to the successful electoral campaign in 2019 European Parliament elections;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that the outcome of the participatory process must be clearly defined, so that it can be subject to a legally binding follow-up; proposes that participants should be provided with written feedback at the end of such exercises, since they ensure the accountability of the institut; recognises that there are difficulties and challenges to overcome if participative forums are to contribute more significantly to democratic quality, and in turn to a sense of ownership and European identity; in this light, opines that citizen engagement structures require an increased level responsiveness of the Commissions and the credibility of such processesmore transparency in the follow-up stage;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Believes that citizens’ participatory processes must adhere to the highest possible level of transparencyHighlights that promoting the democratic legitimacy of the EU’s institutions through public engagement requires a greater understanding of EU decision-making and transparency surrounding the legislative procedure;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Proposes the establishment of at the Commission investigate how it can indeependent civil society organisation or foundation that pan-EU networks, based on voluntary participation, to facilitate information sharing and knowledge transfer and to brings together different democracy initiatives and that focuses , including across different regions, and ensure that best practice methods are used; believes that this will increase citizen awareness of EU decision- making procedures, as well as ensure more opportunities for citizens moreto influential ince policy- making;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Proposes that the Commission’s ‘Have your say’ website becomes a one- stop resource granting access to all participatory instruments; calls on the Commission to embrace further digital possibilities for citizen engagement, in all official EU languages, including tutorials, past examples and information on relevant legislation; believes that provisions should be made for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses the need to permanently include citizens in facilitate citizens’ participation, withe structural reforms of the EU by reforming the Convention method as provided for in Article 48 of the Treaty on European Unionufficient engagement from EU institutions, in the structural reforms of the EU; proposes that this be discussed in the Conference on the Future of Europe;