P6_TA(2005)0068

Deliberations of the Committee on Petitions (2003-2004)

European Parliament resolution on the deliberations of the Committee on Petitions during the parliamentary year 2003-2004 (2004/2090(INI))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on the deliberations of the Committee on Petitions,

- having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 12 April 1989 on strengthening the right of petition [1],

- having regard to Articles 21 and 194 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the annual report for the year 2003 of the European Ombudsman,

- having regard to Rules 45 and 192(6) of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Petitions (A6-0040/2005),

A. whereas the right to petition is a fundamental right inextricably linked with European Union citizenship,

B. whereas the right to petition has been enshrined in the EU Treaty since 1992 and is confirmed in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (Article II-104), adopted by the European Parliament on 12 January 2005 [2],

C. whereas the right of petition to the European Parliament and the right of complaint to the European Ombudsman are important examples of the essential means made available to European citizens for the exercise by them of their direct democratic rights,

D. whereas the quality and the growing number of petitions received illustrate that citizens resident in the EU are using this right to involve themselves in action on matters of concern for the European Union, a fact which obliges the European Parliament to deal with petitions effectively, transparently and without delay,

E. whereas the European Parliament has always recognised petitions as a means of enhancing its ability to exercise its power of political oversight in response to the concerns of EU citizens, particularly regarding potentially serious infringements of European law or lack of respect for their fundamental and basic rights,

F. whereas European citizens require not only better synergy in the work of the institutions but also greater transparency and clarity regarding the responsibilities of the European institutions on the one hand, in particular the Parliament, the Commission, the Council, the European Ombudsman and the specialised agencies and, on the other hand, the Member States' authorities, including petitions committees and ombudsman services within national and regional parliaments, all of which are important as they provide European citizens with the necessary assistance for the exercise of their legitimate rights,

G. whereas the European Parliament, which after the amendment to Article 230 of the EC Treaty made by the Treaty of Nice, has the right to bring actions before the Court of Justice under the same conditions as the Council and the Commission, that is, irrespective of whether its prerogatives are affected or not, is seeking to further strengthen the legal and political instruments at its disposal, thereby enabling it to respond more effectively to citizens' legitimate concerns,

H. whereas the European Parliament, as the directly elected representative body of European citizens at the European level, has a specific duty and privilege to defend citizens' rights; whereas Parliament, nevertheless, needs the help and loyal co-operation of, notably, the Commission as the Guardian of the Treaties if it is to be able to remedy problems which have led citizens to seek its assistance,

I. whereas the Member States and the Presidency-in-Office of the Council of the European Union have a particular duty to guarantee to European citizens that laws which are established through the legislative authority of the European institutions are respected and properly applied by the national, regional and local administrations including the agencies acting under their authority,

1. Reaffirms that the Committee on Petitions is one of the most important bodies within the European Parliament for the exercise of parliamentary scrutiny over the EU institutions as well as national, regional, local and social authorities, thereby improving transparency and awareness of the actions of the European Union as they relate to the European citizen;

2. Notes that petitions give a very useful picture of the degree to which individual citizens consider that their expectations are being fulfilled with regard to the European Union, in relation to which they often feel personally far removed, uninvolved or inadequately treated;

3. Stresses that through the petitions process, the European Parliament is able to assess and, if necessary, publicly reveal a lack of precision in political objectives, loopholes in the legal framework, problems with the practical implementation of policies or other weaknesses as far as the European Union is concerned, as well as possible infringements by the Member States;

4. Underlines the constructive role played by the Commission in the consideration of petitions and regards cooperation with the Commission as essential; calls on the Commission to indicate in its annual report on the application of Community law those cases where infringement proceedings have been initiated as a result of Parliament's involvement following the submission of petitions by European citizens;

5. Calls for the timing of the annual debate and vote in plenary on the work of the relevant committee and on the annual report on the activities of the European Ombudsman to coincide with the debate on the Commission's annual report on the application of Community law;

6. Welcomes the fact that the initiatives for the despatch of delegations to various Member States or regions of the Union to investigate issues raised by petitioners on the spot, listen to the views of the communities concerned and arouse greater awareness on the part of the competent authorities and the media, have helped to focus attention on problems more effectively and have proved to be of benefit to petitioners in many cases;

7. Stresses its intention to make more effective use of Rule 192(1) of the Rules of Procedure, which allows the relevant committee to draw up a report or otherwise express its opinion on petitions it has declared admissible;

8. Recalls the need to allocate clear responsibilities and duties to the Commission, to the Council and to Member States or other designated authorities which apply EU law, as indicated in the working document submitted by the Committee on Petitions to the Chairman of the Convention on the Future of Europe [3];

9. Emphasises that, with the confirmation of the right of petition under the new Constitution, common rules of conduct for all Community institutions and Member States must be established along the lines of the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour drawn up by the European Ombudsman and endorsed by the European Parliament;

10. Underlines that, in dealing with petitions, the presence of a representative of the Council or of the government of the Member State should be a matter of course at the Committee's meetings, particularly when the petition concerns legal questions and objectives of the European Union which are closely connected with a given Member State's national law or linked to politically sensitive subjects for that Member State, and thanks the Member States who have participated in this way; but nevertheless insists that the Presidency-in-Office examine ways of improving the involvement of the Council in the Committee's activities, possibly by designating a senior official to coordinate matters related to petitions;

11. Asks that the Council set a three-month deadline for all Government Departments and Agencies of Member States to make a detailed response to the Committee on Petitions and the Petitioner(s), or a statement on the reasons for further delay on a monthly basis;

12. 12 Believes that the commitment by the Council Presidency in the conclusions of the Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making, adopted on 16 December 2003 by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission [4], will ensure the presence of the Council at an appropriate level in the committees of the European Parliament;

13. Recalls that enlargement, with ten new Member States, requires the relevant committee to increase its range of expertise in linguistic, legal and political terms, and stresses the need to continue to strengthen and adapt the secretariat of the Committee so that it can meet these new circumstances as a matter of urgency, since its services should be equally available to all EU citizens; stresses that a number of general conclusions are being drafted to continue to improve the work of the Committee on Petitions for the 2004-2005 Report, to which they will be attached;

14. Notes that the European Parliament, since the Treaty of Nice, has the right to bring actions before the Court of Justice against other Community institutions on the grounds of lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural requirement, infringement of the EC Treaty or of any rule of law relating to its application, or misuse of powers, irrespective of whether Parliament's prerogatives are affected or not;

15. Considers that it would be legitimate for Parliament to make use of its powers under Article 230 of the EC Treaty, if this is necessary in order to bring an end to a serious infringement of Community law which has been revealed in the course of the examination of a petition, and where a significant difference of interpretation persists, despite efforts to resolve it, between Parliament and the Commission as regards the action required by Community law for the protection of citizens' rights in the case concerned;

16. Calls on the Council and the Commission to review the 1989 Interinstitutional Agreement with the European Parliament, with a view to affording petitioners a more effective means of redress and defining a clear and coherent framework for essential cooperation between the institutions in the area concerned;

17. Is of the opinion that a Standing Working Group should be set up to improve and to monitor permanently the processing of petitions submitted to the European Parliament;

18. Welcomes the creation of the Solvit system as an informal means of helping individuals and companies to resolve problems concerning the internal market, and urges Member States to step up this integrated co-operation scheme with a view to making SOLVIT operational on a larger scale;

19. Urges the Commission to pursue its efforts — which have already produced appreciable results — to rationalise and accelerate internal procedures in response to requests from the relevant committee for information concerning petitions;

20. Welcomes the imminent introduction of the new software management system for petitions, and requests that urgent consideration be given to providing sufficient human resources to allow rapid data input into the new system so that it may become fully operational in the shortest possible time;

21. Asks that the Commission set a three month deadline by which a detailed response will be made to the Committee on Petitions and the Petitioner(s) or reasons given for further delay on a monthly basis;

22. Notes that the success achieved through petitions in highlighting the effect of EU policies on the lives of individual citizens makes it essential to consider carefully the best way to improve the effectiveness and transparency of all procedures for the examination and processing of petitions received, bearing in mind that, compared with the Commission's complaints procedure, the petitions process is already a genuinely public method of resolving citizens' concerns;

23. Recognises that the work of the relevant committee is in many ways different from that of the other parliamentary committees, since it addresses many issues independently, by means of external advice and with contributions from individual citizens, deals with a large number subjects submitted to it by the President or the plenary, and often settles issues without further contribution by plenary or other organs of the European Parliament; finds that this requires procedures which are necessarily different from those of the other committees of the European Parliament but which, without requiring special provisions in the Rules of Procedure, could nevertheless benefit from more established guidelines within the committee in order to ensure the continuity of its work, the coherence of its results and the monitoring of its impact;

24. Calls for measures to be taken to ensure that citizens of the new Member States become more aware of their rights to petition Parliament under Article 194 of the EC Treaty on matters coming within the EU's fields of activity which concern them directly, and to submit complaints to the Ombudsman under Article 195 of the EC Treaty when there are allegations of maladministration within the EU institutions or bodies;

25. Calls upon the parliaments of Member States who have not so far done so, with a view to rationalising dialogue with the EU institutions, to develop national committees on petitions to work together when necessary with the European Parliament's relevant committee and at the same time provide more complete extra-judicial democratic protection of citizens' rights within the Union;

26. Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the report by the Committee on Petitions to the Council, the Commission, the European Ombudsman, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, their committees on petitions and their national ombudsmen or similar competent bodies.

[1] OJ C 120, 16.5.1989, p. 51.

[2] Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0004.

[3] Working document submitted to the President of the Convention on the Future of Europe. Rapporteur: Proinsias De Rossa (PE 318.508/def.).

[4] OJ C 321, 31.12.2003, p. 1.

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