2022/2206(INI) The implementation of the Regulations on the European citizens' initiative
Next event: Indicative plenary sitting date 2023/05/31
Lead committee dossier:
Next event: Indicative plenary sitting date 2023/05/31
Progress: Awaiting committee decision
| Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | AFCO |
VINCZE Loránt ( EPP)
|
SILVA PEREIRA Pedro ( S&D),
MITUȚA Alin ( Renew),
ALFONSI François ( Verts/ALE),
SCHOLZ Helmut ( GUE/NGL)
|
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54
Legal Basis:
RoP 54Subjects
Events
2023/05/31
Indicative plenary sitting date
2023/04/26
EP - Vote in committee
2023/03/07
EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2023/01/26
EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2023/01/19
EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2022/10/17
EP - VINCZE Loránt (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in AFCO
Documents
Activities
- Othmar KARAS
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Stanislav POLČÁK
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Evelyn REGNER
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Clare DALY
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Loránt VINCZE
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Mick WALLACE
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Alin MITUȚA
Plenary Speeches (0)
| Amendments | Dossier |
| 94 |
2022/2206(INI)
2023/03/08
AFCO
94 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 5 a (new) — having regard to its resolution of 17 December 2020 on the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Minority SafePack – one million signatures for diversity in Europe’,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Recital F a (new) F a. whereas, the revised ECI Regulation strengthened the political dimension of this instrument, with the introduction of a mandatory plenary debate in Parliament with the possibility to adopt a resolution;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Recital F a (new) F a. whereas most ECIs fail to gather one million signatures not because citizens are not interested to support initiatives, but because citizens simply do not know that these initiatives exist;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G a (new) G a. whereas Parliament aims to contribute to the upcoming Commission review in order to further improve the ECI as a unique cross-border tool for participatory democracy;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G a (new) G a. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the fragility and vulnerability of the ECI;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H a (new) H a. whereas there is a lack of transparency regarding the implementing rules in certain Member States;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H b (new) H b. whereas the success of a planned ECI depends on the outcome of the verification and certification procedure in the Member States;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution 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
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Recital I a (new) I a. whereas, while the revised ECI Regulation has brought substantial improvements to the ECI instrument, there are remaining weaknesses in terms of its low political impact and visibility, its deliberativeness, its financial and digital dimension and the level of awareness among citizens;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Recital I a (new) I a. whereas the replies from the Commission to valid ECIs need to be more clear, concrete and timely;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution 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 2 #
Motion for a resolution 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 20 #
Motion for a resolution Recital J a (new) J a. whereas ECIs have so far showed a low level of effectiveness and a limited visibility risking to weaken this participatory mechanism and negatively affect citizens’ trust in EU institutions; whereas the ECI needs to be strengthened in order to become a genuine bottom-up process of legislative initiative at the EU level;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution Recital J a (new) J a. whereas the European Court of Justice has stated that the objective of the ECI is to foster debates within the EU institutions;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution Recital J a (new) J a. whereas only a small minority of EU citizens are aware of the existence of the ECI tool and have actively participated in it;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Points out that the ECI
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Points out that the ECI is the only tool for participatory democracy at EU level that can potentially lead to a proposal for a legal act of the Union; considers it essential to involve citizens, in particular young people, in the democratic life of the Union; believes that the ECI can strengthen the democratic dimension of the EU by promoting active citizenship; recalls, therefore, that the use of the ECI instrument must be enhanced by all available means;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Points out that the ECI is the only tool for participatory democracy at EU level that can potentially lead to a proposal for a legal act of the Union; considers it essential to involve citizens, in particular young people, in the democratic life of the Union; recalls, therefore, that the
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Points out that the ECI is the only tool for participatory democracy at EU level that can potentially lead to a proposal for a legal act of the Union;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Points out that the ECI is the only tool for participatory democracy at EU level that can potentially lead to a proposal for a legal act of the Union; considers it
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution 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 29 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Considers it essential to involve, in particular, young people in the democratic life of the Union; welcomes that a number of Member States have decided to lower the minimum age entitling to support ECIs;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A a (new) A a. whereas Parliament has been consistently a vocal promoter of making the ECI a strong, user-friendly instrument for the democratic participation of the citizens in EU-agenda setting;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Stresses that the online collection of statements of support is fundamental for the success of ECIs; welcomes the improvements made by the Commission to its central online collection system, including the possibility of customising its features and providing statistics to citizens; is concerned, however, that phasing out individual online collection systems might have a negative effect on the possibility for organisers to use online collection systems tailored to their needs; underlines that the figures show that individual online collection systems have a considerably higher success rate for ECIs of approximatively 31% while the central online collection system provided by the Commission has a success rate of 8,4%;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Stresses that the online collection of statements of support is fundamental for the success of ECIs; acknowledges the advantages offered by the central online collection system in terms of budget and timing and welcomes the improvements made by the Commission to its central online collection system, including the possibility of customising its features and providing statistics to citizens; also recognises, however, the benefits of individual online collection systems that give more freedom to organisers in the way they manage their campaign; is concerned
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Stresses that the online collection of statements of support is fundamental for the success of ECIs; welcomes the improvements made by the Commission to its central online collection system, including the possibility of customising its features and providing statistics to citizens;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Believes that the special data protection rules for the collection of email addresses pursuant to Article 19(8) of the revised ECI Regulation are not appropriate as they prevent civil society from mobilising citizens to support future ECIs; highlights that mailing lists are an important tool in this context; points out that it is totally sufficient to apply the General Data Protection Regulation without any further provisions;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution 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 4. Highlights that organising an ECI is a too demanding and costly process;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Highlights that organising an ECI is a demanding
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution 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
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Points to the imbalance between the huge amount of effort and extensive resources necessary to organise ECIs and their weak legal effects, even if the required threshold of one million signatures is reached, which may deter citizens from launching ECIs and undermine citizens’ trust in EU institutions;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. whereas the ECI represented one of the main innovations introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon and became the world’s first transnational democracy mechanism;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution 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 41 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes the difficulty to collect signatures in some Member States due to the types of data signatories must provide;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Highlights the lack of transparency regarding the verification and certification procedure in certain Member States;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 b (new) Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Regrets the weak 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
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Regrets the weak 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 in a timely manner;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution 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 47 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7.
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 a (new) Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Welcomes the setting up of the ECI Expert Group; is concerned, however, that no representatives of civil society are included in this expert group; deplores that this is also contrary to the principles established by the European Ombudsman regarding the composition of Commission expert groups;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Recital C a (new) C a. whereas it is indispensable for organisers of ECIs to campaign and collect statements of support online;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution 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 51 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Regrets, that in practice, there is hardly any in-depth discussion of the concerns of an ECI;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 b (new) 8 b. Is convinced that in the long term it will be necessary to strengthen the primary legal basis in order to turn the ECI into a more effective participatory instrument;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. 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; in this regard, calls on the participation of all relevant actors in the process, including national and local authorities, nongovernmental organisations and youth organisations in order to mainstream ECI across channels of communication and encourage active participation of citizens; highlights the role of schools and universities in promoting citizenship education and encourages Member States to coordinate, at national level, awareness raising campaigns for the ECIs;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution 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 55 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Underlines the need to
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. 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
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. 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
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution 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 59 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Encourages the Commission to interlink the website of the EU on the ECI with appropriate online platforms at national level on citizens’ participation in order to gain more visibility;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Recital C b (new) Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Strongly believes that Parliament should be associated to the information efforts, making full use of all its available tools, including EPLOs;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Invites the Commission to encourage Member States to lower the minimum age entitling to support an ECI, where this is not already the case;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 b (new) 9 b. Recognises the importance of anchoring the ECI more effectively in the European civil society's consciousness; calls on the Member States to take respective responsibility; proposes to promote ECIs on websites at national level that citizens know and trust, in particular by interlinking the EU website on the ECI with appropriate online platforms at national level;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution 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 64 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 b (new) 9 b. Invites the Commission to approach the Member States to further encourage reducing the minimum age to participate in an ECI from 18 to 16 years, in line with Article 2 of the revised ECI Regulation;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 c (new) 9 c. Asks the Commission to reconsider that all email addresses collected by organisers have to be deleted after a prescribed time as this obligation may limit the scope of action of civil society organisations, especially if they consider to launch a new ECI in the future;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution 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) 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 68 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10.
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Invites the Commission to start a reflection process on the usefulness of reintroducing the option for organisers to use individual online collection systems; also calls on the Commission to make efforts to incorporate the possibility to allow citizens of all Member States to use the eID signing tool;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Recital C c (new) C c. whereas from 71 ECIs, which have opted for the central OCS, only six ECIs could collect more than one million signatures; whereas individual OCS have a success rate of approximately 31% in comparison to the central OCS that has a success rate of only 8,4%;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10.
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Calls on the Commission to adopt clear and straightforward procedures and provide detailed answers and possible solutions when initiatives are declared partly or fully inadmissible, thus enabling organisers to amend and present them again;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Invites the Commission to consider the introduction of new rules aiming to harmonise the verification and certification procedures at national level, in order to avoid arbitrariness for the organisers of ECIs;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Invites the Commission to consider additional ways to simplify the procedure, namely the possible lowering of the thresholds needed both for signatures and number of Member States;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 b (new) 10 b. Commits to review Article 11(4) TEU with a view to increase the accessibility and legal effectiveness of the ECI by enhancing Parliament’s role and considering an alignment with the common practice at national level where citizens’ initiatives are addressed to national or regional parliaments;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Calls on the Commission to provide progressive financial support for ECIs that reach
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11. Calls on the Commission to provide financial support for ECIs that reach the threshold of one million signatures; reiterates the need for ECIs not to be financed by Member States;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11.
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Calls on the Commission to remedy the situation that no information is publicly available on how the verification is carried out and under which conditions statements of support are deemed to be invalid, which creates a risk of arbitrariness for the organisers of ECIs;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Recital C d (new) C d. whereas contrary to the central OCS provided by the Commission, individual OCS enable organisers to plan and perform campaigns in a decentralised way taking into account the multilingual and multicultural context in the different Member States; whereas individual OCS can be embedded in the websites of the different civil society organisations supporting a specific ECI and can be easily adapted to their specific needs without great bureaucracy; whereas individual OCS enable the organisers to retrace which campaigns in the different Member States are generating the most statements of support for a particular ECI and to make appropriate adjustments; whereas individual OCS are an important driver for innovation that has considerably contributed to strengthen support for ECIs;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Calls on the Commission to engage with Member States to further simplify and harmonise the system of national standards laid down for the collection of data;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 b (new) 11 b. Calls on the Commission to ensure that ECI organisers are given access to the file of the competent authority to be able to seek effective judicial protection against unlawful certification decisions;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 c (new) 11 c. Reminds the Commission to treat all ECIs impartially throughout the entire procedure;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Calls on the Commission to establish a proper dialogue with organisers about their goals and the best possible means to achieve them, in order to assess citizens’ input seriously and effectively; points out that such a dialogue has to be conducted in an open, impartial and non- discriminatory manner and could already be initiated during the collection period;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Calls on the Commission to establish a proper dialogue with organisers about their goals and the best possible means to achieve them, in order to assess citizens’ input seriously and effectively; points out that such a dialogue
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12 a. Asks the Commission to adapt the mandate of the ECI Expert Group and extend the composition of the expert group to representatives of civil society; asks furthermore to ensure that there are no financial links between the relevant organisations of civil society and the Commission;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12 a. Calls on the Commission to better communicate the impact of ECIs, by also sharing success stories and achievements with citizens in order to increase the trust in and the use of the ECI tool;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Invites the Commission to carry out a thorough assessment of the proposals of each valid ECI, and to comply fully with its legal obligation to set out its reasons for taking or not taking action, which it should
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Calls on the Commission to engage
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution 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 9 #
Motion for a resolution Recital D D. whereas, pursuant to Article 15(2) of the revised ECI Regulation and after a public hearing held by the European Parliament, the Commission is legally obliged to set out in a communication its legal and political conclusions on a valid ECI, the action it intends to take, if any, and its reasons for taking or not taking action;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. Proposes to combine successful ECIs with European citizens’ panels in order to improve the deliberative dimension of the ECI and to increase its impact;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution 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;
source: 745.254
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History
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