Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-24-Speech-3-088"
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"en.20100324.13.3-088"2
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"Mr President, it was in this very House, almost seven years ago, at the end of the constitutional convention, when we Members of the European Parliament and members of the national parliaments succeeded in putting forward a proposal that was accepted by the Presidium. I had the honour of taking it to the Presidium and we approved it. Furthermore, I wish to recall here the names of Mr Lamassoure and Mr Mayer, because it was they who drew up the Citizens’ Initiative proposal, a popular initiative that is today incorporated into the treaties.
A popular initiative that is an example of participatory democracy – Mr Šefčovič has explained this very well – and of European democracy, because the issues that need to be covered by this initiative must be European issues, not local issues. Participation by citizens, therefore, and issues dealt with at European level.
Mr Šefčovič, who is preparing this proposal, has not told us what it involves. He has left us with our mouths watering. On behalf of my group, Mr Šefčovič, I would ask that it contain at least three ideas.
Firstly, that it should be clear and simple. In other words, do not let us make things complicated. It must be something accessible to the people, so that they can participate without having had to have gone to university.
Secondly, that it should provide for cooperation between the European authorities and the national authorities, because, in my opinion, the national authorities must play an important role in the way signatures are organised.
Thirdly, that we should educate, through the European Commission and through Parliament, by explaining how this legislative initiative may be used to avoid disappointments. I will give you an example of this that I saw on the Internet. An online petition has already been launched to use the popular initiative to make it possible to change the seat of Parliament so that there is only one.
Well, this is impossible and we must say so from the start; it calls for reform in the treaties and cannot be dealt with by the popular initiative.
There is, therefore, a lot of educating to be done, ladies and gentlemen of the Commission, and of Parliament, in an initiative that the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) endorses and hopes may serve to promote the sense of belonging to the Union and public participation in the Union’s business."@en1
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