Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Pursuant to Rule 233(7) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament, the Committee on Petitions shall report annually on the outcome of its deliberations. The report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the work carried out by the committee in 2023 and includes a statistical analysis of the petitions received and processed as well as a stocktaking of other parliamentary activities such as the adoption of reports and opinions, the organisation of hearings and the committee’s relations with other EU institutions. It is worth recalling that the core work of the Committee on Petitions generates from the right to petition the European Parliament exercised by EU citizens and residents under Article 227 TFEU and is not directly linked to the work programme of the Commission.

In 2023, following the decision taken in 2022, all the measures put in place in the European Parliament in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic aiming at ensuring Parliament’s core functions were confirmed. All committee meetings in 2023 took place in Parliament’s premises, with the participation of MEPs, as well as of Commission’s representatives, in person. Petitioners have had the possibility to participate remotely or in person.

Statistical analysis of petitions received in 2023 compared to 2022

According to the statistics, the European Parliament received 1 452 petitions in 2023, which represents an increase by 16.0 % compared to the 1217 petitions submitted in 2022 and by 4.0 % compared to the 1392 petitions registered in 2021. The number of petitions on COVID-19 has significantly decreased compared to the two previous years: 12 petitions on 2023 compared to 45 petitions in 2022 and 242 petitions in 2021.

Users of the Petitions Web Portal have the possibility to support petitions. In 2023, 26331 users acted as supporters as compared to 2022, 22441 and 209272 in 2021. It follows, that in 2023 the number of users supporting petitions in the web portal slightly increased in comparison with the previous year. The number of supports increased in 2023, reaching 29287 compared to 27927 in 2022 but incomparably lower compared to the 217876 in 2021;

In 2023, 11 petitions were co-signed by more than one citizen. Of the 11 petitions signed by more than one citizen, only 1 was signed by more than 100 citizens; of those 11 petitions, only 1 was signed by more than 500 citizens and none by more than 5000 citizens;

Format of petitions

In 2023, 82.4 % of petitions were submitted via the Petitions Web Portal, while almost 17.6 % of petitions were submitted by post. The figures in the two tables reveal that in 2023 the proportion of petitions submitted via the Petitions Web Portal slightly increased in comparison with 2022, the Petitions Web Portal remaining by far the most used channel for submitting citizens’ petitions to the European Parliament.

The following table shows the status of petitions from 2003 to 2023. It can be noted that in 2023, a very large majority (⅔) of petitions were closed within a year after being received and examined by the committee. As a result of the comparison with the data on the status of petitions included in the annual reports from 2010 to 2022, it can be concluded that a significantly majority of petitions are closed within a year after being received and examined. Except for the year 2023 and partially for year 2016, less than 11% of the petitions received each year since 2003 and very small percentages (from 0.2% to 1.5%) of petitions from 2004 to 2014 remain open. Most of these open petitions relate to environmental issues and ongoing infringement proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union or to issues that members of the committee want to follow closely. An important number of petitions on the beach concessions in Italy (in total 450) have been submitted from 2012 to 2023, with a high number in 2016 and 2023 and are still open with a relevant impact on the statistics.

Outcome of petitions

The tables show that the petitions declared inadmissible in 2023 vs 2022 is significantly higher in terms of number but as percentage, the petitions declared inadmissible in 2023 remained stable as compared to 2022.

The percentage of admissible petitions (46.65%), which were closed immediately by providing information to the petitioner in 2023, is slightly higher as compared to 2022. The percentage of petitions that have been kept open in 2023 (23.00%) have slightly decreased compared to 2022 (26.98%).

It is also to be noted that in 2023, more than the half (55.21 %) of the admissible petitions were sent to the Commission for opinion.

Finally, the percentage of petitions sent to other bodies for opinion remained the same in 2023 as compared to 2022.

Number of petitions by country

The following two tables illustrate in numbers and in percentage terms changes of petitions by country from 2022 to 2023. A large number of petitions submitted in both years concern the EU. It means that these petitions either raise EU-wide issues or call for common measures to be implemented throughout the EU. Petitions concerning the EU may also relate to one or more Member States and are therefore registered under both the EU and the concerned Member State(s). This explains why the sum of the petitions concerning the EU and of those only related to Member States exceeds the total number of petitions submitted in 2022 and 2023.

Additionally, it is worth stressing that the six countries mostly concerned by petitions remained the same in both years although the order of the most concerned countries has changed in 2023 compared to 2022, (Italy in 2023 takes the second seat occupied by Germany in 2022 and Greece takes the sixth seat in 2023 occupied by Poland in 2022). The majority of petitions submitted in 2023 concern Spain, with a relevant increase in terms of numbers in comparison with 2022. It is interesting to note the very significant increase in the number of petitions concerning Italy (from 101 to 202) and Portugal (from 17 to 38), and an opposite flow of the number of petitions related to Greece, with a decrease from 71 to 53. A relevant aspect to underline is that the number of petitions related to France, increased (from 39 to 53) in comparison with 2022.

By contrast, petitions concerning non-EU countries decreased significantly in 2023 compared to petitions submitted in 2022 (from 226 to 176).

As regards the countries featuring at the bottom of the list, Slovakia, Cyprus and Luxembourg, are the least concerned countries in 2023, while in 2022 it was the case for Czechia, Estonia and Slovakia.

Languages of petitions

In 2023 and in 2022, petitions were submitted in 22 of the official languages of the European Union. English and Spanish were the most used languages in both 2022 and 2023, with Spanish re-confirmed as the second most used language, after English. Italian gained a position and became the third most used language in 2023, to the detriment of German which is the fourth in 2023. The tables illustrate that English continued to account for more than ¼ of the total of petitions submitted and that English, Spanish, Italian and German languages account for more than ¾ of the petitions received in 2023 and 2022 (77.5% and 76.2% respectively). Slovak, Estonian and Croatian were the least used languages in 2023 while in 2022 it was the case of Slovenian, Czech and Croatian.

Nationality of petitioners

As regards nationality, while petitions submitted by Spanish citizens represented the highest number in 2023 confirming not only the first place of the 2022 but also registering an important increase (from 266 to 330), Italian citizens exceeded German petitioners and became the second nationality in submitting petitions in 2023 with a significant increase (from 159 to 254).

In addition, the tables below show a slight rise in the number of petitions submitted by Portuguese nationals in 2023 in comparison with the previous year. By contrast, the number of petitions by Hungarian citizens sensibly decreased in 2023, from 33 submitted in 2022 to 21 in 2023.

Two additional observations: in 2023, the number of petitions submitted by other EU nationalities increased significantly compared to 2022, from 170 to 209, and petitions submitted by non-EU nationalities slightly decreased, accounting for 3% of the total.

Main subjects of petitions

The tables below include the top ten petition themes. From the tables, it appears that the main themes did not differ from one year to another. While in 2022 environment, fundamental rights and justice were the top three petition themes, in 2023 environment, internal market as well as fundamental rights ranked the highest.

In 2023 the number of petitions raising concerns over the internal market had a significant increase compared to 2022 (194 vs 84), which represent more than the double. This could be explained by the high number of petitions related to the beach concessions in Italy submitted in 2023.

As regard petitions on health, their number in 2023 (119) remained stable compared to the 115 petitions registered under the same theme in 2022. In the field of the external relations, a slight decrease can be noted, explained by a decrease of the number of petitions on the Ukraine’s war and a significant increase of petitions dealing with the new conflict in the Middle East.

As far as fundamental rights theme is concerned, the number of petitions on this topic is stable in 2023 compared to 2022. This might be due to the fact that in 2023, an important number of petitions (40) registered under the theme of fundamental rights raised concerns over the respect of the rule of law in Spain.

Petitions Web Portal

In 2023, the Petitions Web Portal, launched in late 2014, was further improved to make it more user-friendly, more secure and more accessible to petitioners.

The Petitions Web Portal was revamped and relaunched in February 2023 to align with modern expectations and make it easier for EU27 residents to exercise their right to submit petitions to the European Parliament. The updated PETI Portal 2.0 integrated seamlessly with the EP’s web publishing tool, enabling faster and simpler content updates. Its responsive design ensured compatibility with all devices and screen sizes. New features included four ‘Quick Start Guides’ - available in all 24 EU official languages - that provide clear, step-by-step instructions for submitting, tracking and supporting petitions. Additionally, a new search engine powered by elastic search technology enhanced user experience by delivering more accurate results efficiently. The new portal prioritises a truly citizen-centred approach.

In April 2023, the PETI Portal 2.0 was presented to an extended Steering Committee (comprising group advisers and DG IPOL Strategy and Innovation representatives). Updates on releases, petition statistics and a communication strategy to boost the portal’s visibility were also discussed. Moreover, the portal was actively promoted through various media channels, including Europarl, Twitter, the Director-General’s newsletter and events such as the Open Doors Day.

The automatic notification system has been extended and improved to inform petitioners and supporters by email – if they have opted in – when a reply from the European Commission (“Communication to Members” or “CM”) has been published and translated into the petition’s original language and the other languages of the Committee.

The PETI Portal team ensured that all petitions were published within days of their adoption and promptly responded to numerous petitioner queries – across all EU languages – received through the chatbot and Smart Helpdesk.

Relations with the Commission

The Commission remains the natural partner of the Committee on Petitions in processing petitions as the responsible EU institution for ensuring the implementation of and compliance with EU law. The committee and the Commission have a well-established and consistently maintained level of cooperation. The main contact point in the Commission is the Secretariat-General, which coordinates the distribution of petitions to the relevant Commission’s services and transmits the Commission’s replies to the secretariat of the committee. The Commission’s services participate in the meetings of the Committee of Petitions when petitions are discussed in committee on the basis of the Commission’s written reply or of other documents received. While the Commission has stepped up its efforts to provide timely responses to requests for information made by the Committee on Petitions, the committee believes that the Commission should be more actively involved in the work of the Committee on Petitions in order to ensure that petitioners receive a precise response to their requests and complaints regarding the implementation of EU law.

Additionally, the committee reiterated its calls for regular updates on developments in infringement proceedings and EU pilot procedures, which relate to open petitions. Finally, the committee remains critical as regards the Commission’s new enforcement policy based on in its 2016 communication entitled ‘EU Law: Better Results through Better Application’ (C(2016)8600), which aims to direct citizens to the national level when complaints or petitions do not raise issues of wider principle or systematic failure to comply with EU law. In this regard, the committee considers that the Commission should check whether national authorities take the necessary steps to respond to citizens’ concerns as expressed in their petitions.

Pursuing to the Annex IV of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission on the Timetable for the Commission’s Work Programme and as part of the annual cycle of the structured dialogue, the Committee on Petition welcomed the remote participation of Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight Maroš Šefčovič at its meeting on 28 February 2023. The exchanges of views focused on the state of implementation of the Commission Work Programme as well as on the cooperation between the Petitions Committee and the European Commission on improving relations in the handling of petitions.

It is also worth noting the Commission’s intervention in the Committee on Petitions’ events throughout the year. In particular the intervention of representatives of the Commission during the presentation of the following studies: study on ‘The boundaries of the Commission’s discretionary powers when handling petitions and potential infringements of EU law’ (Implementation & Enforcement of EU Law) on 26 April 2023; study on “Cross-Border Legal Recognition of Parenthood in the EU” (DG JUST) on 17 July 2023; study on “Compensation for Victims of climate change disasters” (DG CLIMA) on 18 July 2023; study on “Homelessness in the European Union” (DG EMPL) on 30 November 2023.

Representatives of the Commission also participated in several PETI hearings in 2023: public hearing on “The impact of climate change on social security and the most vulnerable groups” organised on 22 March (DG EMPL), hearing on “The state of implementation of the Habitats Directive” on 24 May 2023 (DG ENV.E - implementation and relations with Member States) with a focus on the infringement actions brought in the context of the Habitat Directive; hearing in association with Committee on Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on “Schengen Borders - issues raised by petitioners” (DG HOME - Unit of Schengen and External Borders) with a focus on “Historical overview: establishment of the Schengen agreement, its progressive extension and the transfer of the Schengen acquis to the EU competence” on 18 July 2023; hearing on “A reflection on the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions and the petitions’ systems of third countries” on 24 October 2023.

Finally, on 29 November 2023, in the annual workshop on the rights of persons with disabilities focusing on “Coping with the cost-of-living crisis and Inclusive communication”, Helena DALLI, the former European Commissioner for Equality intervened via a recorded video statement followed by representatives of DG Communication.

ECI

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is a European Union (EU) mechanism aimed at increasing direct democracy by enabling “EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies”. The initiative enables one million citizens of the European Union, who are nationals of at least seven member states, to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act in an area where the member states have conferred powers onto the EU level. If at the end of the procedure, the ECI initiative reaches the threshold, organisers are invited to a hearing organised by the committee for petitions, to present their initiative, and afterwards, Parliament may decide to debate further and adopt a resolution on plenary on the topic.

On 24 January 2023, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) jointly with the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and with the association of the PETI Committee, held a public hearing on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment”. The initiative requests the phasing out of synthetic pesticides by 2035, a broader support to farmers and the development of the agriculture by prioritising small scale, diverse and sustainable farming, supporting a rapid increase in agro-ecological and organic practice, and enabling independent farmer-based training and research into pesticide. The former Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius and the former Commissioner for agriculture Janusz Wojiechowski presented their points of view on the different topics, showing the need for legislators to work together with all the stakeholder groups.

On 27 March 2023, the Committee on Fisheries (PECH) organised, in association with the Committee on Petitions and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), a public hearing on the ECI “Stop Finning – Stop the Trade”. The initiative requests to the Commission to propose legal measures to end the trade of shark and ray fins in the EU, including the import, export and transit of fins, other than if naturally attached to the animal’s body, notably by extending the scope of Regulation (EU) No 605/2013. Former Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius intervened stressing that ECI raises important issues that are relevant to the EU’s policy of protecting the marine environment, protecting and conserving fisheries resources and ensuring sustainable fishing in the EU and globally.

On 25 May 2023, Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) organised in association with the Committee on Petitions and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), a public hearing on the ECI “Save cruelty-free cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without animal testing”. The initiative requests three main objectives: protect and strengthen the cosmetics animal testing ban, transform EU chemicals regulation, ensuring human health and the environment by managing chemicals without the addition of new animal testing requirements and modernise science in the EU.

On 12 October 2023, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) organised, in association with the Committee on Petitions, a public hearing on the ECI “Fur-Free Europe”. The initiative calls on the EU to ban the rearing and killing of animals for the purpose of fur production. It also asked for a ban on the placing on the Union market of both fur from animals farmed for their fur, as well as products containing such fur. Former Commissioner for Health and Food safety Stella Kyriakides recalled that after a deep technical analysis, the Commission will eventually evaluate the necessity and justification of the bans requested by the ECI’ organisers in pursuing objectives of environmental and public health, of animal health and welfare objectives, in ensuring that consumer concerns can be addressed in practice, as well as in ensuring a smooth operation of the internal market.

Article 230 of the Rules of Procedures of the European Parliament allows the Committee on Petitions, if it considers appropriate, to examine proposed citizens’ initiatives which have been registered in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 211/2011, but which cannot be submitted to the Commission in accordance with Article 9 of that Regulation, since not all the relevant procedures and conditions laid down have been complied with. On that basis, the Committee held on 27 April 2023 a debate on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Ensuring Common Commercial Policy conformity with EU Treaties and compliance with international law” with the participation of the organisers and a representative of the Commission and members of the committee. The ECI representatives’ main objective was to invite the Commission to propose a legal acts based on the Common Commercial Policy to prevent EU legal entities from both importing products originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories and exporting to such territories, in order to preserve the integrity of the internal market and to not aid or assist the maintenance of such unlawful situations. Although the ECI ended without reaching the threshold of 1 million signatures, the Committee on Petitions could shed light on it and decide to send the petition to the Committee on International Trade for opinion and to ask the European Commission for an update on this topic.

In accordance with the same article, the Committee held on 24 October 2023 a debate on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Good Clothes, Fair Pay”, with the participation of the organisers and a representative of the Commission and members of the committee. The ECI representatives’ main objectives were to invite the Commission to propose legislation, requiring undertakings active in the garment and footwear sector to conduct due diligence in respect of living wages in their supply chain achieving the following objectives: (a) complement and build on the ‘EU’s Sustainable Corporate Governance framework’, and the ‘EU Adequate Minimum Wage Directive’; (b) require undertakings to identify, prevent and mitigate adverse impacts on the human right to a living wage and freedom of association and collective bargaining rights; (c) reduce poverty in the Union and worldwide, paying particular attention to the circumstances of women, migrants and workers with precarious contracts and the need to combat child labour; (d) prohibit unfair trading practices which cause, or contribute to, actual and potential harms to workers in the garment and footwear sector and promote fair purchasing practices; (e) provide a right to information for consumers regarding undertakings in the garment and footwear sector; (f) improve transparency and accountability of undertakings in the garment and footwear sector. Although the ECI ended without reaching the threshold of 1 million signatures, the Committee on Petitions could shed light on it and decide to send the petition to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs for opinion and to ask the European Commission for an update on this topic.

Relations with the Council

Members of the Council’s Secretariat may attend the meetings of the Committee on Petitions. Regrettably, in 2023, the committee did not observe Council’s participation in the debates. Nevertheless, the committee notes the participation by some local or regional authorities in the discussion on petitions in committee meetings, which in 2023 concerned mainly Spanish-related topics. Also on 30 November 2023, the committee acknowledges the participation of the Head of the Diversity and Inclusion Office of the Council of the EU at the annual workshop on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Relations with the European Ombudsman

The Committee on Petitions continued its constructive, long-standing working relations with the office of the European Ombudsman, contributing to the increase of the democratic accountability of the EU institutions.

On 27 June 2023, the committee heard the presentation of the European Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2022, delivered by Ms Emily O’Reilly. The report documented the Ombudsman’s work on transparency and accountability (e.g. access to information and documents), culture and service, respect of fundamental rights, the proper use of discretion (including in infringement procedures), recruitment, good management of personnel issues, respect of procedural rights, sound financial management, ethics and public participation in EU decision-making. In 2022, the Ombudsman opened 348 inquiries, of which four were on her own initiative, while closing 330 inquiries. The largest percentage of inquiries concerned the European Commission (57.1%), followed by the European Personnel Selection Office (6.3%), the European Parliament (5.5%) and the European External Action Service (4.6%). The remaining enquires concerned other EU institutions, agencies and bodies with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) totalling 4.3% and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency 2%.

It is also worth noting the intervention by inquiries Officer in the Ombudsman’s Strategic Inquiries Team at the committee’s annual workshop on the rights of persons with disabilities which took place on 29 November 2023.

Relations with the European Court of Auditors

Over recent years, the Committee on Petitions has built constructive working relations with the European Court of Auditors (ECA) and has actively contributed to its annual work programmes.