Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-24-Speech-3-128"
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"en.20100324.13.3-128"2
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"Mr President, I would first like to thank Diego for an excellent summary of today’s debate. I would like to thank all of you for your support and positive expectations linked to the citizens’ initiative. I can assure you that I will be happy to present to you the proposal at the earliest convenience after its adoption.
To give a short answer to Vice-President Durant’s question concerning communication with civil society, I think that the European Citizens’ Initiative is the best answer. We have a very good structured dialogue organised by the European Economic and Social Committee and I had a very lengthy debate with them just two weeks ago. I think that strong and wide public consultations are taking place through the smart-legislating proposals. We will widen this and use it even more in the future.
In view of the time, let me conclude by saying that I am really looking forward to being back soon with a proposal. I look forward to our mutual discussion on this issue and what I hope will be very dynamic and speedy procedures so that we can have this very important instrument approved as soon as possible.
Because of time constraints and the fact that the proposal is not yet finalised, we could not go into details today. However, I am very thankful for your views and opinions because they really reflected the nature and the quality of the views and opinions we have been collecting in the preparations of the European Citizens’ Initiative.
There are many things on which we all agree. The first one is, clearly, transparency. I can assure you that we are looking for a solution which would guarantee, through the registration of the initiative by the Commission, that we would know who the organisers are and how they are financed. We would have a very strong indication whether the initiative is really genuine, whether it is really a citizens’ initiative, and whether it is really a European initiative. I think it must include all these elements in order to make good and successful use of this new instrument.
We all agree on practicality. We would like to have a system which is user-friendly. We would like to create a system where the citizens would not have the feeling that they have to go through a very burdensome procedure to collect or to give their signatures. We are looking into these opportunities and, of course, we are looking into ways in which modern IT technology – so characteristic of our century – can be used.
It is clear that there are different systems for the verification of signatures in the Member States. One of the clear responses we gathered from the public consultation was that the citizens would prefer having a certain uniformity when it comes to the verification and the collection of signatures. At the same time, we got the clear message from the Member States that we should look for a system which would not be too burdensome or too complicated for the national authorities, because it would be the Member States who would have to verify that the signatures collected for the citizens’ initiative are real and genuine.
I listened very carefully to your calls for having very clear procedures once the initiative is successful and once the signatures are collected. I would like to assure you that we will definitely do that. In the proposal, there will be very clear deadlines – when, how and in what timeframe the Commission will have to react when the citizens’ initiative is successful.
As you have listened to the opinions here, you will agree with me that the most difficult issue we have to tackle is the issue of admissibility – how we can find a solution which would avoid the frustration of citizens, how we can protect EU values, and how we can keep this institute of the European Citizens’ Initiative serious and real. I can assure you that there are no easy answers to these questions and to these slightly contradictory requests.
The Commission is looking into the option which would defend European values and human rights from the outset. At the same time, we would like to have a clear view that the proposals for the citizens’ initiative have a genuine potential to be successful.
We would like to avoid possible abuse where we might get proposals for the initiative every second week on nonsensical issues on which there would be an obligation to pronounce a view on admissibility, and then for it to be appealed to the Court – initiatives whose only reason for proposal would be the self-promotion of the potential organisers for negative political agenda. We have also to bear this in mind. I hope that we will find the right balance on how to keep this admissibility check in adequate proportion."@en1
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