Strasbourg, 15/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - With 1609 complaints in 18 months, the European Parliament Petitions Committee has called for an increase in the number of its members to enable it better to meet the demands put on it. To be more effective, it believes its procedures have to be streamlined and its work better coordinated with the other EU institutions. It also calls for a firmer line to be taken with Member States which do not abide by Community law. On 13 June, Parliament adopted the report by British Labour MEP Michael Cashman and stressed the need to ensure that “response times … become shorter, investigations more effective and its service … equally available to all citizens of the EU”. For this reason and to allow Parliament “to better respond to the expectations of petitioners”, MEPs propose that the committee's numbers be doubled to 50 full members. To find appropriate solutions “to the concerns and problems with which citizens are confronted during their everyday lives”, MEPs believe the committee's procedures must be rationalised and coordinated. They also call for better cooperation between Parliament and the other players involved, in particular the Commission and the Council, requiring a review of the inter-institutional agreement which dates from 1989. The Chairman of the Petitions Committee, Polish MEP Marcin Libicki will now write to Parliament President Josep Borrell to seek the desired increase in committee members.
The report also calls for measures, both at EU and at national levels, to inform citizens of their right to petition the European Parliament. Expressing concern over the “unreasonable and excessive” amount of time which the Commission takes to pursue and conclude infringement proceedings, MEPs also stress their unhappiness over the frequent examples of non-compliance by Member States with decisions of the Court of Justice. They say that this situation “undermines the credibility of the formulation and coherent application of EC law, and brings discredit on the objectives of the EU”. They therefore support a firmer policy towards the Member States, aimed at bringing them before the Court of Justice so that “lump sums and penalty payments” can be imposed on them. They also stress Parliament's right to turn to the Court of Justice where serious infringements of Community law are revealed in the course of the examination of a petition. The report, lastly, encourages the sending of fact-finding missions to the Member States to investigate issues raised by petitioners where these would “offer a clearer view of the often complex problems on the ground”. Such missions, say MEPs, can help raise awareness among the competent authorities and thereby “increase the pressure to find effective and pragmatic solutions in the interest of the citizens”.