Debate: Deliberations of the Committee on Petitions in
Date: WEDNESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2021
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

I would like to underline once again that we take the work of this committee very seriously. I totally agree with the speakers, Mr Jahr and Ms Maestre Martín De Almagro, that you are indeed the committee in which the agenda is set directly by the citizens. I would like to assure you that, for the Commission and for myself, you are definitely a first—class committee, because you have a direct link with the citizens.  I would also like to underline that it’s extremely impressive, as Ms Ulrike Müller said, that despite the difficult circumstances of operating in this online world, you have managed to communicate with the citizens through this new means – through video calls – and you have demonstrated care for the concerns of our citizens, which is reflected in a quite impressive increase of almost 16% in petitions. I totally agree with you that there is nothing that can replace physical meetings, but in these very difficult COVID times, the fact that you switched to video calls and maintained links in that way is extremely impressive and very much appreciated. If you allow me to reflect on the issues raised by Ms Ždanoka, I have to say that I very much appreciate her contributions. At the same time, I have to say that I very much agree with a vote of the committee on the interinstitutional arrangements, because I am deeply convinced that the current legal interinstitutional context is sufficient and appropriate to ensure that the Commission will do what it would ask us to do: to perform a deep analysis of the problems that petitioners bring to the attention of the European Parliament, to keep your committee informed of conclusions and developments, and to provide adequate explanations about how it intends to deal with a given issue. I also agree with Mr Jahr that we can always – and we should – look at how we can improve things and how we can make sure that we provide a better service to our citizens. We have a few such ideas, and we will be very happy to share them with you. Establishing a direct link between your web portal and the Commission link which covers infringements would already provide better information and more clarity to citizens. I believe that it would improve the overall impression that citizens get from our cooperation. On Article 51, which is an issue raised by Ms Ždanoka and also Ms Toom, I would like to reassure honourable Members that the Commission does not hesitate to take appropriate steps to address the infringement of rights as protected under the Charter. However, the Charter doesn’t extend the existing competences of the EU. This is not a matter of interpretation, but a matter of subsidiarity. However, we do our best to encourage close cooperation with NGOs and with the human rights bodies, and to contribute in this way to the protection of the human rights of European citizens.  Mr Barrena Arza referred to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), and this was also the point of reference of Madam Toom. I would like to inform you that, every time the organisers of the ECI initiatives file applications, we have political deliberations on these applications in our College. We always inform the Commissioner so it’s not done by services. We just wanted to make sure that every Commissioner is aware of what is proposed. Until now, if my memory serves me well, we have approved 15 or 16 of the ECIs and rejected only one. How did we achieve that improvement compared to the previous mandate? Because we are working actively with the organisers, providing them with advice and telling them how the questions should be formulated so they fall within the remit of our competences and within the limits of what the ECI was intended for.  But clearly, there is a lot to do, as Mr Agius Saliba underlined, to make sure that we continue next year to improve our service to the citizens and our response to the petitioners. We will do our utmost to stay within three months, which, as you know, was the time within which we are trying to respond to your petitions. In the overwhelming majority of cases, we achieve that result, but we will always be very willing to listen to your suggestions and your proposals about how to make things better. Once again, thank you very much for the excellent cooperation throughout the year. I am looking forward to 2022, and because this is also my last intervention in the plenary this year, I would also like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.