The Committee on Petitions (PETI) is a permanent committee of the European Parliament to offer a petition process including a web portal to create and admit petitions. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Dolors Montserrat, member of the EPP Group. [1]
The right to petition is one of the fundamental rights of the European citizen and residents. Any of these can bring forward a petition on a matter within the EU's sphere of activities. The Committee hears cases, some 1500 each year, sometimes presented in Parliament by the citizen themselves. While the Parliament attempts to resolve the issue as a mediator, it can resort to legal proceedings if necessary to resolve the citizen's dispute. [2]
The Bundestag is the German federal parliament and the lower of two federal chambers, opposed to the upper chamber, the Bundesrat. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people, comparable to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom or the United States House of Representatives. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 as one of the legislative bodies of Germany and thus it is the historical successor to the earlier Reichstag.
The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as listed in the Treaty on European Union. It is one of two legislative bodies and together with the European Parliament serves to amend and approve or veto the proposals of the European Commission, which holds the right of initiative.
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 720 members (MEPs), after the June 2024 European elections, from a previous 705 MEPs. It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world, with an electorate of around 375 million eligible voters in 2024.
The European People's Party Group is a political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs and/or deputies from unaffiliated national parties. The EPP Group comprises politicians of Christian democratic, conservative and liberal-conservative orientation.
The European Commission (EC) is the primary executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission headed by a President. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner.
A popular initiative is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition.
The Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament in Madrid.
The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom governed under the Treaties of the European Union and European Union law. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union:
Sophia Helena "Sophie" in 't Veld is a Dutch politician. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, and reelected in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She was D66's top candidate for the three elections and was its leader in the European Parliament since her first election.
Frédérique Ries is a Belgian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the French Community of Belgium with the MR/MCC/PRL, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
An online petition is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. Typically, after there are enough signatories, the resulting letter may be delivered to the subject of the petition, usually via e-mail. The online petition may also deliver an email to the target of the petition each time the petition is signed.
Cecilia Karin Maria Wikström, née Sundström, originally Nodbjörk is a Swedish politician who served as Member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Sweden, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Sofia Sakorafa is a Greek-Palestinian politician and former javelin thrower. She was a Member of the European Parliament for Greece as member of the political party MeRA25, having formerly sat for Syriza and before that served, from June 2012 to July 2014, as a Syriza Member of the Hellenic Parliament. She served as a deputy speaker in the Hellenic Parliament for the MeRA25 party. She is the president of Association hellénique d'athlétisme amateur (SEGAS).
Nadine Morano is a French politician of the Republicans who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament since 2014. She previously was a member of the National Assembly and a minister.
Esteban González Pons is a Spanish politician of the People's Party (PP) who was a member of the European Parliament between 2014 and 2023. He was elected to the 15th Congress of Deputies from Valencia in the 2023 Spanish general election.
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", introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. This popular initiative enables one million citizens of the European Union, with a minimum number of nationals from 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. This right to request the commission to initiate a legislative proposal puts citizens on the same footing as the European Parliament and the European Council, who enjoy this right according to Articles 225 and 241 TFEU, respectively. The commission holds the right of initiative in the EU. The first registered ECI, Fraternité 2020, was initiated on 9 May 2012, although the first submitted ECI was One Single Tariff.
Biljana Borzan is a Croatian physician and politician who has been member of the European Parliament for Croatia since 1 July 2013, having been elected to the position at the 2013, 2014 and 2019 elections. She is a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) and serving as the Vice President of the Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament with the portfolio "New Economy that works for all" in the Ninith legislature.
Iskra Mihaylova is a Bulgarian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Bulgaria who has been a Member of the European Parliament since July 2014. She is a member of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.
Jana Toom is an Estonian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2014. She is a member of the Estonian Centre Party.
Lukas Mandl is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who has been a Member of the European Parliament since November 2017 and was re-elected in 2019.