(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2010)0119),

–  having regard to Article 11(4) of the Treaty on European Union,

–  having regard to Article 294(2) and the first paragraph of Article 24 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0089/2010),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 14 July 2010(1),

–  having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 10 June 2010(2),

–   having regard to the undertaking given by the Council representative by letter of 8 December 2010 to approve Parliament's position, in accordance with Article 294(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on Petitions, the Committee on Culture and Education and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A7-0350/2010),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Takes note of the statement by the Presidency of the Council and the Commission statements annexed to this resolution;

3.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

4.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

(1) Not yet published in the Official Journal. (2) OJ C 267, 1.10.2010, p. 57.

(As an agreement was reached between Parliament and Council, Parliament's position corresponds to the final legislative act, Regulation (EU) No 211/2011).

Statements

Commission Statements

–I –

The Commission will provide accurate information on the citizens' initiative. In particular, it will draft and keep up-to-date a comprehensive and user-friendly guide on the citizens' initiative, in every official language of the Union, which will be accessible on the Commission's website dedicated to the citizens' initiative. Moreover, during the process of registering and processing proposals for citizens' initiatives, the Commission will provide support and guidance to the organisers, where needed. In addition, the Commission will, upon request, inform the organisers of current or intended legislative proposals on matters raised by the initiative.

–II –

After the registration of a proposed initiative in one official language, the organisers can request the Commission, at any time during the collection of statements of support, to include in the register translations of the proposed initiative in any other official languages. The translations will be the responsibility of the organisers; before accepting the inclusion of new language versions in the register, the Commission will check that there are no manifest and significant inconsistencies between the original text and the new linguistic versions of the title, the subject-matter and the objectives.

Statement by the Belgian Presidency of the Council

The Presidency will endeavour to ensure that the measures needed for the application of the present regulation are in place as soon as possible and at the latest one year after its entry into force as foreseen in the regulation.