—

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

—

having regard to Articles 10 and 11 of the Treaty on European Union,

—

having regard to Articles 20, 24 and 227 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which reflect the importance the Treaty attaches to the right of EU citizens and residents to bring their concerns to the attention of Parliament,

—

having regard to Article 228 TFEU on the role and functions of the European Ombudsman,

—

having regard to Article 44 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’) concerning the right to petition the European Parliament,

—

having regard to the provisions of the TFEU relating to the infringement procedure and, in particular, to Articles 258 and 260 thereof,

—

having regard to its resolution of 9 March 2022 on engaging with citizens: the right to petition, the right to refer to the European Ombudsman and the European Citizens’ Initiative (1),

—

having regard to Rules 54 and 227(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

—

having regard to the report of the Committee on Petitions (A9-0271/2022),

A.

whereas the purpose of the annual report on the outcome of the Committee on Petitions’ deliberations is to present an analysis of the petitions received in 2021 and of relations with other institutions, and to present an accurate picture of the objectives achieved in 2021;

B.

whereas in 2021, Parliament received 1 392 petitions, which represents around half of the number received in 2013 (2 891) and 2014 (2 715), when the total number of petitions received reached its peak; whereas the number of petitions submitted in 2021 also represents a decrease of 11,5 % compared to the 1 573 petitions submitted in 2020 and a slight increase of 2,5 % compared to the 1 357 petitions submitted in 2019;

C.

whereas in 2021, the number of users supporting one or more petitions on Parliament’s Petitions Web Portal was 209 272, which represents a very considerable increase from the 48 882 users recorded in 2020; whereas the number of clicks in support of petitions also increased in 2021, reaching a total of 217 876 (up from 55 129 in 2020); whereas petition No 0549/2021 by Adriana Muresan, bearing 22 735 signatures, on the alleged poor safety conditions in car parks for trucks and commercial vehicles on the European road network represents a record number of co-signatures for a petition in 2021;

D.

whereas the large number of petitions voicing citizens’ concerns over the public health and socio-economic emergencies, vaccination, and the implementation of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, resulting from the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly contributed to the increase in the number of petitions registered in 2021 on this topic in comparison with the previous year; whereas 17,3 % of the petitions received in 2021 related to the COVID-19 pandemic;

E.

whereas the number of petitions received in 2021 asking for full compliance with EU environmental law, as well as for effective and rapid measures, in line with the precautionary principle, in order to protect ecosystems and habitats of Union concern significantly increased, amounting to a total of 327 (23,5 %);

F.

whereas the high number of petitions submitted in 2021 reveals that, also in the second year of the pandemic, citizens placed significant trust in Parliament, choosing to address their concerns and complaints directly to their elected representatives at EU level, whom they considered to be the source of decision-making; whereas the Parliament must do its utmost to validate this trust;

G.

whereas, however, the overall number of petitions remains modest in relation to the total population of the EU, revealing that efforts still need to be stepped up to increase citizens’ awareness about their right to petition, to further promote this instrument and to increase the geographical representation of petitions submitted per Member State, or to increase awareness of petitions’ possible usefulness as a means of drawing the attention of the EU institutions and the Member States to matters that affect and concern citizens directly; whereas, in exercising the right to petition, citizens expect that the EU institutions will reply in a timely manner and will provide added value in finding a solution to their problems; whereas failure to act at Union level to ensure full protection of citizens’ rights arising from EU law is likely to result in discontent towards the Union;

H.

whereas the criteria for the admissibility of petitions are laid down in Article 227 TFEU and Rule 226 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, which require that petitions must be submitted by an EU citizen or by a natural or legal person who is resident or has a registered office in a Member State, either individually or in association with others, on matters which fall within the EU’s fields of activity and which affect the petitioners directly, with the latter condition having a very broad interpretation;

I.

whereas, of the 1 392 petitions submitted in 2021, 368 were declared inadmissible and 17 were withdrawn; whereas the relatively high percentage (26,5 %) of inadmissible petitions in 2021 demonstrates that there is still a widespread lack of clarity about the scope of the Union’s areas of responsibility; whereas in order to remedy this situation, communication with citizens needs to be encouraged and improved;

J.

whereas each petition is considered and examined carefully, efficiently and transparently;

K.

whereas petitioners tend to be citizens engaged in safeguarding fundamental rights and in the improvement and future well-being of our societies; whereas the experience of these citizens with regard to the processing of their petitions is very influential in determining their perception of the EU institutions and respect for the right to petition as enshrined in EU law;

L.

whereas the right to petition the European Parliament is one of the fundamental rights of EU citizens set out in the Treaties and in the Charter; whereas the right to petition provides EU citizens and residents with an open, democratic and transparent mechanism to address their elected representatives directly; whereas it is therefore essential to improve respect for this right and its implementation in a timely manner in order to enable citizens to participate more actively and more effectively in the life of the Union; whereas, through petitions, EU citizens can complain about failures to implement EU law and help detect breaches of EU law;

M.

whereas the European Parliament is the only EU institution directly elected by EU citizens; whereas the right to petition offers Parliament, as well as other EU institutions, in particular the Commission, given its role of ensuring the correct application of EU law throughout the Union, the opportunity to enhance their responsiveness to complaints and concerns relating to the respect for EU fundamental rights and compliance with EU legislation in the Member States; whereas petitions are therefore a useful source of information on instances of misapplication or breaches of EU law and, thus, enable Parliament and other EU institutions to assess the transposition and application of EU law, as well as on shortcomings and loopholes in current EU law, and its impact on the rights of EU citizens and residents; whereas the submitted petitions should indicate to the EU institutions the areas where major effort and action at EU level is needed for the transposition and application of EU law;

N.

whereas Parliament has long been at the forefront of the development of the petitions process internationally and has the most open and transparent petitions process in Europe, allowing a significant number of petitioners to participate fully in its activities;

O.

whereas the Committee on Petitions is best able to show citizens what the European Union does for them and what solutions it can provide at European, national or local level;

P.

whereas the Committee on Petitions carefully examines and deals with each petition submitted to Parliament; whereas each petitioner has the right to have his or her petition handled impartially and fairly in full compliance with the right to good administration enshrined in Article 41 of the Charter; whereas each petitioner has the right to receive a reply informing him or her about the decision on admissibility and follow-up actions taken by the committee within a reasonable period of time, in his or her own language or in the language used in the petition; whereas each petitioner is entitled to request that his or her petition be reopened on the basis of any relevant fresh developments;

Q.

whereas Parliament has already acknowledged that the Commission’s refusal to take action on issues raised in individual petitions constitutes a breach of the current EU Treaties’ provisions related to the right to petition, as it is not limited to issues of strategic importance or reflecting structural problems; whereas the Commission is still implementing its strategic approach in handling petitions on the basis of its 2017 communication entitled ‘EU law: Better results through better application’ (2), despite Parliament’s request for the Commission to revise it in a timely manner;

R.

whereas the Commission is failing to provide comprehensive information to the Committee on Petitions on the legislative and non-legislative measures taken following petitions received, as well as on infringement procedures related to petitions; whereas there is no public register linking petitions with all follow-up actions taken on them;

S.

whereas the activities of the Committee on Petitions are based on the input provided by petitioners; whereas the information submitted by petitioners in their petitions and at committee meetings, along with the Commission’s assessment and the replies of the Member States and other bodies, are crucial for the work of the committee; whereas admissible petitions also provide valuable contributions to the work of the other parliamentary committees, given that they are forwarded by the Committee on Petitions to other committees for an opinion or for information; whereas, therefore, petitions are very important for the legislative process, as they provide other parliamentary committees with useful and direct input for their legislative work in their respective fields;

T.

whereas the Committee on Petitions attaches paramount importance to the examination and public discussion of petitions at its meetings; whereas petitioners have the right to present their petitions and frequently take the floor in the discussion, thereby actively contributing to the work of the committee; whereas in 2021, the Committee on Petitions held 12 committee meetings, at which 159 petitions were discussed with 113 petitioners present remotely and most of them actively participating by taking the floor; whereas the slightly higher number of petitions discussed at meetings in 2021 compared to 2020 can be explained by the increase in timeslots for committee meetings, but always with limited interpretation facilities as a consequence of Parliament’s precautionary measures in the context of the persistence of the pandemic;

U.

whereas the main subjects of concern raised in petitions submitted in 2021 related to fundamental rights (in particular the impact of COVID-19 emergency measures on the rule of law and democracy, on access to education during the lockdowns, the freedom of movement and the right to work, as well as to LGBTIQ+ rights in the Union), health (notably questions on access to healthcare, on the public health crisis resulting from the persistence of the pandemic, ranging from the protection of citizens’ health, including vaccination policy, to the use, implementation and application of the EU Digital COVID Certificate in the Member States and the alleged discrimination between vaccinated and non-vaccinated persons), the environment (mostly concerning mining activities and their impact on the environment, illegal logging, violence against environmental whistleblowers, the possible improvement of coexistence between people and large carnivores, illicit waste disposal, nuclear safety, air pollution, wind farms, defective mica blocks and the deterioration of natural ecosystems), minority rights and discrimination (including the rights of national or linguistic minorities), education (in particular questions related to discriminatory access to education or contested national reforms of the law on education), the lack of safety in truck parking areas, the situation of EU students in the UK after the UK’s withdrawal from Erasmus+, and employment (in particular questions relating to national treatment of work contracts), in addition to many other areas of activity;

V.

whereas when adopting its meeting agenda, the Committee on Petitions pays attention to petitions and topics with significant relevance for discussion at EU level and the need to maintain an equitable geographical coverage of topics according to the petitions received;

W.

whereas 78,6 % (1 094) of the petitions received in 2021 were submitted via Parliament’s Petitions Web Portal, down slightly from 79,7 % (1 254 petitions) in 2020, thus confirming that Parliament’s Petitions Web Portal has become by far the most used channel for citizens to submit petitions to Parliament;

X.

whereas in 2021, the most important objective of the Petitions Web Portal (PETI Portal) was fully achieved, as the portal was online and operational for over 99,9 % of the time; whereas all petitions were prepared and published in a timely manner, within a few days of their adoption, and all internal and external requests for support regarding the use and content of the PETI portal were replied to successfully, in a timely manner and in all languages; whereas version 2.4 of the Petitions Web Portal was deployed and a request was made to initiate an artificial intelligence chatbot for the Petitions Web Portal;

Y.

whereas in 2021, the Committee on Petitions held one fact-finding visit; whereas the second fact-finding visit, scheduled for December, was postponed as a result of the decision taken considering the increase of the spread of COVID-19 and to minimise health risks for Parliament’s Members and staff;

Z.

whereas under the Rules of Procedure, the Committee on Petitions is responsible for relations with the European Ombudsman, who investigates complaints about maladministration within the institutions and bodies of the EU; whereas the current European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, presented her annual report for 2020 to the Committee on Petitions at its meeting of 14 July 2021;

AA.

whereas the Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, has an essential role in the Committee on Petitions and the information provided by the petitioners is useful in discovering possible breaches or misapplications of European law;

AB.

whereas the Committee on Petitions is a member of the European Network of Ombudsmen, which also includes the European Ombudsman, national and regional ombudsmen and similar bodies in the Member States, the candidate countries and other European Economic Area countries, and which aims to promote the exchange of information about EU law and policy, and to share best practices;

AC.

whereas improving citizens’ participation and ensuring full protection of citizens’ rights arising from EU law are key elements for bringing the EU closer to its citizens; whereas the Committee on Petitions adopted the report on engaging with citizens: the right to petition, the right to refer to the European Ombudsman and the European Citizens’ Initiative (3), focusing on ways of raising citizens’ awareness of their rights, communication campaigns to draw attention to existing channels for participation, closer cooperation with other institutions and parliamentary committees and civic engagement on the part of young people, concluding that the Commission must revise its current strategic approach to handling petitions, as it has resulted in leaving untreated, inter alia, issues concerning serious violations of EU law detrimental to the protection of citizens’ rights; whereas the Committee on Petitions considers the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) a very important instrument of participatory democracy, which should be enhanced to enable citizens to become more actively and directly involved in shaping the Union’s policies and legislation;

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.