5.8.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 212/99

A.

whereas the Treaty of Lisbon introduces the citizens’ initiative, whereby citizens of the Union numbering not less than one million, who are nationals of a significant number of Member States, may take the initiative of inviting the Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaties – Article 11(4) of the EU Treaty in the Treaty of Lisbon version (‘TEU’),

B.

whereas one million citizens of the Union will thus obtain the same right to request the Commission to submit a legislative proposal as the Council has had since the establishment of the European Communities in 1957 (originally under Article 152 of the EEC Treaty, at present Article 208 of the EC Treaty, in future Article 241 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’)), and the European Parliament has had since the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 (at present Article 192 of the EC Treaty, in future Article 225 TFEU),

C.

whereas citizens will thus play a direct role in the exercise of the European Union’s sovereign power by being, for the first time, directly involved in the initiation of European legislative proposals,

D.

whereas Article 11(4) TEU aims to establish an individual right to participate in a citizens’ initiative, as a special consequence of the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union under Article 10(3) TEU,

E.

whereas the right of initiative is often confused with the right to petition; whereas there is a need to ensure that citizens are fully aware of the distinction between both rights, particularly since a petition is directed to Parliament while a citizens’ initiative is directed to the Commission,

F.

whereas the Union’s institutions and the Member States are required to establish the conditions for the smooth, transparent and effective exercise of the right of participation of the citizens of the Union,

G.

whereas the procedures and conditions for a citizens’ initiative, including the minimum number of Member States from which the citizens taking the initiative must come, shall be determined by Parliament and the Council in accordance with the proper legislative procedure by means of a regulation (Article 24(1) TFEU),

H.

whereas, when that regulation is adopted and implemented, the fundamental rights to equality, good administration and legal protection should be particularly safeguarded,

I.

whereas the ‘minimum number of Member States from which such citizens must come’ (Article 24(1) TFEU) must be a ‘significant number of Member States’ (Article 11(4) TEU),

J.

whereas the minimum number of Member States must not be determined arbitrarily but must be guided by the regulation’s purpose and shall be interpreted with reference to other Treaty provisions, in order to avoid conflicting interpretations,

K.

whereas the purpose of the regulation is to ensure that the starting point of the European legislative process is prompted, not by national vested interests, but by the European common interest,

L.

whereas Article 76 TFEU indicates that a legislative proposal supported by a quarter of the Member States may be presumed to take sufficient account of the European common interest; whereas, therefore, such a minimum number can be considered to be unchallengeable,

M.

whereas the purpose of the regulation is fulfilled only if it is associated with a minimum number of statements of support from each of those Member States,

N.

whereas it can be concluded from Article 11(4) TEU, which specifies the figure of one million citizens of the Union, from a population of approximately 500 million citizens, that 1/500 of the population should be considered to be representative,

O.

whereas Article 11(4) TEU applies to all citizens of the Union,

P.

whereas, however, any restriction of the right to democratic participation and any unequal treatment on the grounds of age must satisfy the principle of proportionality,

Q.

whereas, moreover, it is desirable to avoid conflicting interpretations, of the kind that would arise, for instance, if the minimum age for participation in European elections in a Member State were lower than the minimum age for participation in a citizens’ initiative,

R.

whereas a successful citizens’ initiative requires the Commission to look into the matters it raises and decide whether and to what extent it should accordingly submit a proposal for a legal act,

S.

whereas it would be advisable for initiatives to refer to one or more appropriate legal bases for the submission of the proposed legal act by the Commission,

T.

whereas a citizens’ initiative may proceed only if it is admissible, in so far as:

U.

whereas a citizens’ initiative is successful if it is admissible in the above sense and if it is representative, in the sense that it is supported by at least one million citizens who are nationals of a significant number of Member States,

V.

whereas it is the task of the Commission to verify whether the conditions for a successful citizens’ initiative are fulfilled,

W.

whereas for the organisation of a citizens’ initiative it is highly desirable to have legal certainty as to the admissibility of the initiative before collecting statements of support,

X.

whereas the task of verifying the authenticity of statements of support cannot be carried out by the Commission and should therefore be fulfilled by the Member States; whereas, however, the obligations of the Member States in that regard extend only to initiatives within the framework of Article11(4) TEU and under no circumstances to initiatives that are inadmissible on the above-mentioned grounds whereas it is therefore necessary for the Member States, even before beginning to collect statements of support, to have legal certainty as regards the admissibility of the citizens’ initiative,

Y.

whereas verification of the admissibility of a citizens’ initiative by the Commission is, however, restricted exclusively to the above-mentioned legal grounds and may on no account include considerations of political expediency; whereas this will ensure that the Commission is not free to decide, on the basis of political considerations of its own, whether a citizens’ initiative is or is not to be declared admissible,

Z.

whereas it would seem appropriate for the procedure for a citizens’ initiative to be divided into the following five stages:

AA.

whereas the citizens’ initiative is a means of exercising public sovereign power in the area of legislation and is subject, as such, to the transparency principle; whereas this means that the organisers of a citizens’ initiative must publicly assume accountability for its funding, including the sources of that funding,

AB.

whereas it is the political task of the Parliament to monitor the process of a citizens’ initiative,

AC.

whereas this responsibility concerns the implementation of the regulation on the citizen’s initiative, as such, as well as the political position of the Commission with regard to the request submitted by the citizens’ initiative,

AD.

whereas it is important to ensure compatibility between requests submitted to the Commission by a citizens’ initiative and Parliament’s democratically approved priorities and proposals,

1.

Requests the Commission to submit without delay, after the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force, a proposal for a regulation on the citizens’ initiative on the basis of Article 24 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

2.

Calls on the Commission to give due regard in that task to the recommendations set out in the annex to this resolution;

3.

Calls for the regulation to be clear, simple and user-friendly, incorporating practical elements relating to the definition of a citizens’ initiative in order that it should not be confused with the right of petition;

4.

Decides to look, immediately after that regulation has been adopted, into the establishment of an effective system to monitor the process of a citizens’ initiative;

5.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.