El Defensor del Pueblo, Ángel Gabilondo, se ha reunido hoy en la sede de la Institución con la ministra de Política Territorial, Isabel Rodríguez.  
 

Se trata de la segunda visita ministerial que recibe el Defensor del Pueblo, tras tomar posesión de su cargo, en un acto en el Congreso de los Diputados, el pasado 18 de noviembre. El 16 de diciembre, el ministro de la Presidencia, Relaciones con las Cortes y Memoria Democrática, Félix Bolaños, acudió a la Institución para mantener un primer encuentro con el Defensor del Pueblo.
 

La ministra Rodríguez se ha interesado por la actividad y el funcionamiento de la Institución y ha mostrado su disposición a colaborar con el Defensor del Pueblo.

National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture visited some places of detention that had been visited by the SPT and CPT delegations during their last periodic visits (in 2017 by the CPT and in 2018 by the SPT). The NMPT visits were thematic ones and focused on verifying the recommendations of the monitoring bodies.   As a result of the NMPT works, thematic report "Human rights in places of detention....

Mit einem Anliegen, das den Verbraucherschutz betrifft, bekam es der Bürgerbeauftragte unlängst zu tun. Einem Bürger ging es um den aktuell angelaufenen Tausch der Stromzähler. Zurzeit werden nämlich die alten - analogen - Stromzähler Stück für Stück durch digitale Stromzähler (= moderne Messeinrichtung) ersetzt. Dieser Wechsel ist vom Gesetz zur Digitalisierung der Energiewende so vorgesehen. Wenn ein digitaler Stromzähler zusätzlich mit einem Kommunikationsmodul (sog. Smart-Meter-Gateway) versehen ist, handelt es sich um ein sog. „intelligentes Messsystem“, das Datenübertragung ermöglicht und zu dessen Einbau bestimmte Haushalte verpflichtet sind.
 

Allerdings hatten in den vergangenen Jahren Studien Hinweise darauf geliefert, dass elektronische Stromzähler einen zum Teil deutlich höheren Verbrauch messen als er tatsächlich stattfindet. Auf Grund der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse wurde unter Leitung der Physikalisch-Technischen Bundesanstalt eine Arbeitsgruppe mit der Untersuchung beauftragt. Der Bund der Energieverbraucher beteiligte sich an dieser Arbeitsgruppe.
 

Zudem hat das Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen mit unanfechtbarem Eil-Beschluss vom 04.03.2021, Az. 21 B 1162/20, den Einbau intelligenter Messsysteme einstweilen gestoppt, und zwar mit der Begründung, dass die am Markt verfügbaren intelligenten Messsysteme nicht den gesetzlichen Anforderungen genügten. Die Geräte seien, so das Gericht, hinsichtlich der Erfüllung der im Messstellenbetriebsgesetz (MessbG) und in Technischen Richtlinien normierten Interoperabilitätsanforderungen nicht, wie gesetzlich vorgeschrieben, zertifiziert. Diese Messsysteme könnten auch nicht zertifiziert werden, weil sie die Interoperabilitätsanforderungen nicht erfüllten. Dass sie den Anforderungen der Anlage VII der Technischen Richtlinie TR-03109-1 des Bundesamtes für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) entsprechen, reiche jedenfalls nicht.
 

Insofern besteht hier aktuell für alle Verbraucher eine gewisse Unsicherheit. Zur Klärung entsprechender Fragen und für eine Beratung zu der Thematik können Sie sich an die Verbraucherzentralen (https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de) wenden. Weitere Infos dazu auch hier.

• EU should promote transparency and citizen involvement as a priority
• Petitions and ECI’s highlight citizens’ concerns, and deserve appropriate follow-up
• The Ombudsman’s work has reduced maladministration and boosted transparency
   

The EU’s tools for direct citizen participation need a higher profile and more resources, argue MEPs in an evaluation report.
 

Petitions, European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECIs) and complaints to the European Ombudsman play a key role in boosting transparency and citizen participation in EU affairs, argue Petitions Committee MEPs in a report. It was adopted with 21 votes in favour and one against (12 abstentions).
 

The special role of petitions

Petitions are the EU’s oldest direct democracy tool, but improvements are needed for the petitions process to match citizens’ expectations, argue MEPs. They urge the Commission to conduct proper enquiries and take action on the basis of petitions, as only meaningful follow-up provides a real response to citizens’ concerns.
 

The MEPs note that currently, serious problems raised in petitions could remain unsolved, and a new binding agreement between Parliament and Commission on treating petitions may be needed. If citizens don’t get adequate solutions to their problems, they could become detached from EU institutions, argue MEPs. At the same time, petitions should be handled in a uniform way to avoid the impression of partisan treatment.
 

To raise the profile of petitions, MEPs argue that the Commission should include petitions in its policy papers and inform the public more clearly about the different competences of EU institutions and the member states. MEPs propose commissioning a special Eurobarometer to find out how much citizens know about their right to petition the EU. They would also like to see better search and analysis functions in the Petitions portal and website, so that people could see real-time data about their petitions and find other petitions on the same topic. Lastly, MEPs say that NGOs should tap the full potential of petitions in conveying issues, for example breaches of EU law, to EU institutions.
 

Ombudsman enquiries and ECI’s can promote trust and transparency

The European Ombudsman also has a key role in promoting trust in the EU through transparency, argue MEPs. They welcome the Ombudsman’s recently adopted new stature, and would like to see a bigger budget for the Ombudsman. In future, they should investigate more closely the spending of EU funds, which risks being undermined by rule of law deficits, corruption and conflicts of interest.
 

In the past, the Ombudsman has managed to make documents more accessible, trade negotiations and clinical trials more transparent, and complaint channels available to asylum seekers, among other achievements. In future, MEPs would also like to see a reform of EU law on public access to documents, as the current rules have become obsolete. The Ombudsman should also promote the results of its work to make sure that people are aware of it, say MEPs.
 

Lastly, ECIs are a unique instrument of direct democracy, but too few have received adequate follow-up from the Commission, argue the MEPs. They urge the Commission to more actively propose legislative changes after a successful citizens’ initiative, and to make the process more accessible to all EU citizens. Unsuccessful ECI’s should also be examined and possibly redirected to the Committee on Petitions to make sure that citizens do not disengage at this point. Within the Conference on the Future of Europe, citizens could also be encouraged to turn their proposals into ECI’s, say the MEPs.
 

To help citizens discover all the participatory mechanisms at their disposal, they should all be linked to one website and mobile application, propose MEPs. Overall, EU institutions should communicate multi-lingually about participatory tools, and schools and universities should teach students about them to engage young people more effectively. With more resources and a higher profile, tools that directly involve citizens could increase engagement and trust in the EU, notes the Petitions Committee.
 

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After the vote, rapporteur Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew, FR) said: “Ever since I started working on this report, my priorities have remained the same: promoting accessibility, transparency and communication. I wanted to make concrete proposals. The Conference on the Future of Europe is a good illustration of the citizens' desire to make their voice heard. Now more than ever, we should follow this impulse and find better ways to inform people about European issues and to improve access to EU participatory tools."
 

Next steps

A future plenary session of the European Parliament will discuss the report and vote on it.

• Freedom of movement is challenged by LGBTIQ discrimination, arbitrary document requirements

• Voting rights of mobile EU citizens need to be secured
   

EU citizens have the right to participate in democratic life, move freely and not suffer discrimination, but more work is needed to bolster these rights, say MEPs.
 

EU citizenship is at the core of the European project, and needs to be boosted with action on the rights of LGBTIQ citizens, voting rights for non-citizen EU residents and the rights of stateless people, argue MEPs in a report. Following from the Commission’s EU Citizenship Report 2020, the report outlines current issues with EU citizenship rights, and was adopted by the Petitions Committee with 31 votes in favour and 3 against.
 

Issues hindering free movement

The freedom of movement has suffered recently, as states have re-introduced restrictions in the wake of the pandemic, note the MEPs. They encourage member states to phase out emergency measures as soon as they are no longer necessary. However, MEPs point out that EU citizens face obstacles when moving within Europe even in normal times. There may be unnecessary administrative hurdles for accessing social benefits and health insurance, for example document requirements that only citizens can fulfil. The Commission should investigate such discrimination, say MEPs, and concepts like “comprehensive sickness insurance” and “sufficient resources” in the Citizens’ Rights Directive should be clarified.
 

For rainbow families, where some of the family members are LGBTIQ people, there are still additional obstacles to exercising their right to free movement (detailed in the European Parliament’s recent study on the topic). To remedy the situation, the Commission and member states should ensure full compliance with judgment C-673/16 of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the immigration rights of same-sex spouses. Also, many families face problems due to different legislation on separation, divorce and custody in the EU, leading to cross-border disputes.
 

Access to the vote still unequal

On electoral rights, MEPs note that EU citizens still face barriers when voting in other EU states. Some states revoke citizens’ right to vote in national parliamentary elections when they move to another state, and others prevent long-term residents from voting in local and European elections, or from joining political parties. The Commission’s proposal to reform the directive on mobile EU citizens’ voting rights is a welcome first step, argue MEPs. They also highlight disabled citizens’ lack of voting rights, especially when they are under guardianship. MEPs would like to see more measures to boost the electoral participation of disadvantaged groups, whether they are persons with disabilities, LGBTIQ people, migrants or low-income households.
 

The report also highlights issues faced by stateless persons in Europe, who may not enjoy basic rights, such as the right to free movement. To fix the situation, MEPs would like to see EU member states issue travel documents also to people who are not citizens, and extend the right to EU consular protection to them.
 

Overall, citizens need better information about their rights, note MEPs. In a public consultation related to the 2020 Citizenship Report, 60 % of respondents said that communication efforts on EU citizen rights were insufficient. MEPs urge the EU to consider country-level websites explaining their rights as EU citizens and ways they can contact their elected representatives. Eventually, the rights and freedoms of each citizen could be consolidated into an EU Statute of Citizenship, they propose.
 

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After the vote, rapporteur Yana Toom (Renew, ET) said: “While the freedom of movement is one of the biggest successes of the European Union, in the Committee of Petitions we still hear from some EU citizens that face barriers when moving to another EU country. We must address any barriers and support mobile EU citizens in all aspects of their life abroad from registering and settling down in another EU country and through to participating in local and European elections.”
 

Next steps

A future plenary session of the European Parliament will discuss the report and vote on it.