Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-13-Speech-2-563-000"
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"en.20110913.42.2-563-000"2
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member; Delegation for relations with the countries of the Andean Community (2009-09-16--2014-06-30)3
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"Mr President, Council representative, Commissioner, I should first of all like to express my gratitude to all the members of the committee, who have allowed us to present this report with an overwhelming consensus; particularly those members who have presented amendments and suggestions in writing to Mr Jahr, Mr Boştinaru, Mr Salavrakos, Ms Werthmann and Mr Boulland, as their contributions have doubtless helped to enhance the presentation of this memorandum to the House.
As regards the Member States, the report regrets the negligence that some of them have displayed in the enforcement of and compliance with European environmental legislation. At the same time, we celebrate the excellent rapport which exists between the European Ombudsman, Mr Diamandouros, and our committee. We also point out that the processing of petitions should be made more transparent.
To conclude, I would like to mention that one of the most significant new developments for our committee at the present time is the European Citizens’ Initiative. Our experience tells us that we should stand very close to this new instrument. Similarly, we also believe that it is necessary to launch a debate on the limited applicability of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, given the large number of petitions relating to infringements by the Commission.
Obviously, I also have to thank the committee secretariat, whose constant efforts and dedication help us to get through vast amounts of work.
In this report, which we are discussing today and which will be put to the vote tomorrow, we offer a view of the work carried out in 2010 following a calendar of activities which was not fixed around the legislative programme of the European Commission, but set by the citizens who exercise their right to petition the European Parliament.
The report sets out to achieve three goals: firstly, to offer a clear, easily understandable overview of the activities carried out by the Committee on Petitions in 2010; secondly, to highlight the role of the Committee on Petitions and European citizens’ right to petition, a right which enables them to complain about infringements of EU law and which should be a cornerstone of European citizenship; and, lastly, special reference is made to changes in legislation, including the approval of the citizens’ initiative and the legally binding character of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The descriptive part of the report points to a 14% fall in the number of petitions as compared with 2009: a total of 1 655 were presented, while the figure for 2009 was 1 924.
The chief subjects of the petitions, in order of importance, were clearly the environment, fundamental rights, the internal market and justice. Given that most petitions are related to the environment, the necessary procedures will need to be adopted to prevent further irreparable damage to the European Union’s biodiversity.
The languages most commonly used in the petitions presented were German, English, Spanish and Italian. The largest nationality group of the petitioners was German, followed by Spanish, Italian and Romanian. As for the country or countries to which the petitions refer, a significant shift has occurred: petitions relating to Spain are now more numerous than those referring to the European Union as a whole; they are followed by petitions relating to Germany and Italy. The dominant channel for reception is fortunately the Internet – far more commonly used than paper – and the report also highlights the three fact-finding missions conducted by the committee in 2010: the fact-finding mission to the Huelva estuary (Spain) to examine toxic waste management (phosphogypsum and radioactive ash discharges), the mission to Campania (Italy) on urban waste management, and the mission to Voralberg (Austria) relating to the transposition into domestic legislation of the Environmental Impact Directive in connection with a ski-related project.
Regarding our committee’s relation with other parliamentary committees, other institutions such as the European Commission, the Council or the Ombudsman, and with the Member States, the report calls for a reduction in the time taken by the European Commission to respond to our requests for investigation, a point that was already included in the previous report presented by Mr Iturgaiz on the annual report for 2009.
The European Commission must provide regular reports on the current stage of infringement procedures related to petitions. I should like to stress that effective communication with this institution is essential for our committee to be able to carry out its work."@en1
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