2009/2139(INI) | [ParlTrack]

María MUÑIZ DE URQUIZA, Josefa ANDRÉS BAREA, Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas Parliament, through its Committee on Petitions, has an obligation to investigate such concerns and to do its best to bring such breaches of the law to an end; whereas, in order to offer citizens the most appropriate and rapid remedies, the Committee on Petitions has continued to reinforce its cooperation with the Commission, other parliamentary committees, European bodies, agencies and networks, and Member States,

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital O

O. whereas, although the Commission can fully check compliance with EU law only when a final decision has been taken by national authorities, it is important, particularly in relation to environmental matters, to verify at an early stage that local, regional and national authorities correctly apply all relevant procedural requirements under EU law,

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital O

O. whereas, although the Commission can fully check compliance with EU law only when a final decision has been taken by national authorities, it is important, particularly in relation to environmental matters, to verify at an early stage that national authorities correctly apply all relevant procedural requirements under EU law and when necessary to carry out detailed studies on the application and impact of the legislation in force, in order to obtain all the requisite information,

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital P

P. bearing in mind the importance of preventing further irreparable losses in biodiversity, especially inside Natura 2000 designated sites, and the commitment by Member States to ensure the protection of special conservation areas under the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), and the Birds Directive (79/409 EEC);

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and is confident that Parliament will be closely associated with the development of the new citizens’ initiative so that this instrument can fully achieve its purpose and ensure enhanced transparency and accountability in the EU decision-making process, allowing citizens to suggest ~~change~~improvements or additions to EU law;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Welcomes the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and is confident that Parliament will be closely ~~associated with~~involved in the development of the new citizens’ initiative so that this instrument can fully achieve its purpose and ensure enhanced transparency and accountability in the EU decision- making process, allowing citizens to suggest changes or additions to EU law;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. ~~Welcomes the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and i~~Is confident that Parliament will be closely associated with the development of the new citizens’ initiative so that this instrument can fully achieve its purpose and ensure enhanced transparency and accountability in the EU decision-making process, allowing citizens to suggest changes or additions to EU law;

Amendment 16 #

María MUÑIZ DE URQUIZA, Josefa ANDRÉS BAREA, Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls its resolution on the citizens’ initiative12, to which the Committee on Petitions contributed an opinion; ~~urges the Commission establish comprehensible implementing rules which identify clearly the roles and obligations of the institutions involved in the examin~~restates its commitment to establish, with the other institutions, implementing rules which identify in a clear manner the rights of citizens and the obligations and decision- making processes; 1 European Parliament Resolution of 7 May 2009 requesting the Commission to submit a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation of the citizens’ initiative – P6_TA (2009)0389.dures of the institutions involved; Or. en

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Recalls its previous request that a full review of the redress procedures available to EU citizens should be carried out by the relevant services of Parliament and the Commission and underscores the ~~need to start negotiations on a new interinstitutional agreement which should take i~~importance to pursue the negotiations on the revised Framework Agreement between the European Parliamento a~~ccount the development of European policies as we~~nd the Commission to take fully asccount of the increased ~~emphasis on EU citizens’ right~~rights of the EU citizens particularly through the European citizens initiatives;

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Notes that petitions received in 2009, almost 40% of which were deemed inadmissible, continued to focus on environment, fundamental rights, justice and the internal market; in terms of geographical focus, most of the petitions concerned the Union as a whole – followed by Germany, Spain, Italy and Romania – demonstrating that citizens do keep a watchful eye on the Union’s work and turn to it for action;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14a. Acknowledges the importance of the work of petitioners and its Committee on Petitions for the protection of the Union's environment; welcomes the initiative of the committee to order a study on the application of the Habitats Directive in anticipation of the international biodiversity year and considers it a useful tool in evaluating the past and drafting the new EU biodiversity strategy;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas the number of inadmissible petitions received in 2009 indicates that additional emphasis should be placed on informing citizens better about the competences of the Union and the role of its various institutions, as well as subjects concerning which petitions are likely to be submitted to the Committee on Petitions,

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)

14b. Is particularly satisfied with cases of successful outcomes as a result of the petitions process, such as the preservation of the Ferme du Casino in Guerande as an example of an area protected under the Natura 2000 network where environmental, social, economic, and cultural interests reinforce each other1; Welcomes also the decisions by the authorities in Valencia not authorize the developments plans for Parcent, as a reflexion of the principle that urban development projects need to have ensured water resources and must be environmentally sustainable; 1 The petition concerned was 551/2008 by the Salt Marsh Workers Union.

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Observes that more and more petitions are highlighting the problems encountered by citizens who exercise their right to free movement; such petitions refer to the excessive length of time taken by host Member States in delivering residence permits to third-country family members, and to difficulties in exercising voting rights and having qualifications recognised; ~~welcomes, therefore, the recently launched Stockholm Programme1 and supports the speedy implementation of its objectives;~~

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Reiterates its previous calls on the Commission to put forward practical proposals to extend consumer protection against unfair commercial practices to small businesses, as requested in its ~~1 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – An area of freedom, security and justice serving the citizen, COM(2009)262 final.~~ resolution on misleading directory companies1, as the Committee continues to receive petitions from victims of business- directory scams; notes that European rules on collective redress could play a positive role also in this context;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Acknowledges the central role that the Commission plays in the work of the Committee on Petitions, which continues to rely on its expertise when assessing petitions, identifying breaches of European legislation and seeking redress, and recognises the efforts made by the Commission to improve its overall response time to the Committee’s requests for investigations; so that cases reported by citizens can be resolved as quickly as possible,

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17a. Encourages the European Commission to intervene at early stages whenever petitions signal potential damages to special protected areas, by reminding the concerned national authorities of their commitments to ensure the integrity of sites classified as Natura 200 under the EC Directive 92/43 (Habitats); and where necessary take preventive measures to ensure the respect of the European legislation;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17a. Welcomes the newly elected Commission - especially the Commissioner responsible for inter- institutional relations and administration - and trusts that they will cooperate with the Committee on Petitions as closely and effectively as possible and respect it as one of the most important channels between citizens and European institutions;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18a. Calls on the Commission to speed up its work on all procedures pending in relation to potential infringements of Community environmental legislation in order to prevent irreparable damage caused by the Commission's slowness to act;

Amendment 27 #

Marian HARKIN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Believes that tracking down infringement proceedings by following the Commission’'s press releases and matching them to certain petitions would unnecessarily waste the Committee’'s time and resources, especially in the case of horizontal infringements and asks that the Commission informs the Petitions Committee of any relevant infringement proceedings;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Welcomes the Commission’s efforts to develop alternative means of promoting better implementation of European legislation, and the positive attitude of certain Member States which take the necessary steps to correct breaches at the early stages of the implementation process; underlines, however, that alternative means of addressing infringements cannot substitute for the Commission's responsibilities under the treaties and must fully respect the rights of complainants as laid down in Communication 2002/141;

Amendment 29 #

María MUÑIZ DE URQUIZA, Josefa ANDRÉS BAREA, Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Welcomes the Commission’s efforts to develop alternative means of promoting better implementation of European legislation, and the positive attitude of certain Member States which take the necessary steps to correct breaches at the early stages of the implementation process; regrets, on the other hand, that certain Member States are reluctant to cooperate in the Commission's work and indeed disregard the Commission's warnings;

Amendment 3 #

Diana WALLIS

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas, in many instances, citizens petition Parliament about decisions taken by the competent administrative or judicial authorities within Member States; in this sense citizens need mechanisms through which they can call national authorities to account for their part in both the European legislative process and in the legislative enforcement process,

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Welcomes the increased involvement of Member States in the activity of the Committee on Petitions and the presence of their representatives at meetings; and believes that such cooperation should be strengthened ~~as the national authorities are primarily responsible for enforcing European legislation once it has been transposed into their legal order~~;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23a. Stresses that the reinforced cooperation with the Member States is extremely important for the work of the Petitions Committee; believes that one solution could be the strengthening of the cooperation with the national parliaments especially in the context of the Lisbon Treaty,

Amendment 32 #

Diana WALLIS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23a. Encourages Member States to be prepared to play a more transparent and proactive part in responding to petitions related to the implementation and enforcement of European law.

Amendment 33 #

Diana WALLIS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)

23b. Considers that, in light of the Lisbon Treaty', the Petitions Committee of this Parliament should forge closer working links with similar committees in Member States' national and regional parliaments in order to promote mutual understanding of petitions on European issues and to ensure the swiftest response to citizens at the most appropriate level.

Amendment 34 #

María MUÑIZ DE URQUIZA, Josefa ANDRÉS BAREA, Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Draws attention to the conclusions in its resolution on the impact of extensive urbanisation in Spain1 and asks the Spanish authorities to continue to provide an assessments of the measures taken ~~in that regard~~, as they have been doing up to now;

Amendment 35 #

Marian HARKIN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Acknowledges that the growing tendency for petitions to be of limited relevance to EU activities is perhaps related partly to the growing number of electronic petitions as, for the second year in a row, electronic petitions have outnumbered those submitted by post;Deleted

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Believes that, while extensive use of the Internet should be encouraged as it facilitates communication with citizens, a solution should be found to prevent the Committee being burdened with ‘non- petitions’; considers that a possible solution could lie in revision of the registration process in Parliament and in the reinforcement of the staff involved in the management and assessment of the petitions which still lacks the linguistic coverage necessary, and encourages the staff responsible to re-direct the files in question to the Correspondence with Citizens Unit, rather than submitting them to the Committee on Petitions;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27

27. Believes that, while extensive use of the Internet should be encouraged as it facilitates communication with citizens, a solution should be found to prevent the Committee being burdened with ‘non- petitions’; considers that a possible solution could lie in revision of the registration process in Parliament and encourages the staff responsible to re-direct the files in question to the Correspondence with Citizens Unit, rather than submitting them to the Committee on Petitions when such correspondence is not explicitly addressed to Parliament as petitions;

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)

27a. Believes that research should be carried out concerning the reasons for the difference in the number of petitions submitted to the European Parliament by nationals and residents of EU Member States and also an information campaign should be organized on the findings of the research;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Encourages the creation of a portal offering a multi-stage interactive template for petitions, which could inform citizens about what can be achieved by submitting petitions to Parliament and about Parliament’s remit, and could include links to alternative means of redress at European and national level; calls for as detailed a description as possible of the European Union's responsibilities in the various areas to eliminate any confusion between the Union's competences and national competences;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas citizens should, in particular, be made aware that – as recognised by the European Ombudsman in the decision of December 2009 closing the inquiry into complaint 822/2009/BU against the Commission – national court proceedings are part of the process of implementing European legislation in the Member States, and that the Committee on Petitions cannot deal with issues subject to national court proceedings or review the outcome of such proceedings in cases where there is no infringement of EU law,

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)

30a Stresses that up until the best solution to the issue of resources is found, an immediate improvement of the existing website is necessary;

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31

31. Welcomes the approval of Parliament’s new Rules of Procedure and the revision of the provisions related to the management of petitions; ~~encourages the work of the Secretariat and political group representatives on a~~welcomes also the revised guide for Members to the rules and internal procedures of the Committee on Petitions, as such a document will not only assist Members in their work, but will also further increase the transparency of the petitions process;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)

Ka. whereas the high costs of court procedures in particular in some Member States can constitute an obstacle for citizens and might actually prevent them from bringing actions before the competent national courts when they consider that national authorities have not respected their rights under EU law,

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)

Kb. whereas Parliament faces a particular problem when petitioned on alleged failures by the national judiciary to request a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice even though this would have been required under Article 267 TFEU especially if the European Commission does not use its powers under Article 258 to taken action against the Member State in question,

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital M

M. whereas citizens are entitled to speedy and solution-oriented redress and to a high level of transparency and clarity from all European institutions and whereas Parliament has repeatedly requested the Commission to use its prerogatives as guardian of the Treaty to act against breaches of European legislation revealed by petitioners, especially where transposition of EU legislation at national level results in its infringement,

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital N

N. whereas many petitions continue to raise concerns about the transposition and implementation of European legislation on the internal market and the environment, and bearing in mind the previous calls made by the Committee on Petitions to the Commission to ensure that enforcement checks in these areas are strengthened and made more efficient,

Amendment 9 #