Petition

#Chapter 1

There are currently two ways to submit an EU petition:

By letter: As someone who prefers to register as little as possible, I think this is a great option. The only slight disadvantage is that you cannot check the status.

Online: You do have to register for this, but it's really very straightforward. No ID verification or anything else. It's as easy as registering with Lemmy, and I can only urge everyone in this community to register there.

I opted for the online version so that I could be notified of the progress by email.

After registering, you have to confirm the process with a registration email and then you're ready to go.

You can change the homepage to your local language. I only noticed this after step 2 was complete, which would have saved me a lot of translation time.

Step 1 First, you are shown an overview of what you can and cannot submit a petition for.

Step 2 To submit a petition, you must answer eight questions with yes or no. Only if the correct selection has been made can you continue. (This hurdle does not apply when submitting by letter.)

Here are the eight questions and the corresponding answers:

• Yes - Does the subject of your concern fall clearly within the field of activity of the European Union…?
• Yes - Are you a citizen or resident of the European Union, acting personally or on behalf … in an EU Member State?
• No - Are you petitioning the European Parliament because you disagree with a decision…?
• No - Do you wish to create or lend your support to a European Citizens’ Initiative…?
• No - Does the issue you wish to raise concern a possible case of maladministration … which affects you personally?
• No - Does the issue of concern deal with cross-border problems caused by a potential breach of EU law…?
• No - Are you seeking information about the European Parliament or do you wish to communicate…?
• Yes - Does the issue of concern relate to the way in which EU legislation is possibly being wrongly implemented…?

Step 3 After answering these questions, you can submit your petition and upload attachments. Since all formatting is removed from the text, I uploaded the formatted text again as a PDF attachment.

Once the petition has been submitted, you will receive an email notification. When you log in to the site, the petition will appear, but no number will have been assigned yet. You will now have to wait a few days for this number to be assigned.

#Chapter 2

After eight days, I received an email telling me the number assigned to the petition. It also included a PDF attachment in the form of an official letter.

When I log in to the website a week later, the number (announced in the email) has not yet been assigned to the data record. I have no idea if it will ever appear there. All I can do is to wait.

I waited several weeks to see if the number announced in the email would be linked to the data record on the homepage. Then I asked peti-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu by email. Unfortunately, I have not received a reply to this question to date.

After a total of five months I received the long-awaited email, informing me that the petition had been processed and was now public.

#Chapter 3

After a total of five months, I received the long-awaited email informing me that the petition had been processed and was now public.

And indeed, when I log in to the portal, the assigned number is linked to the data record and my entire text has been converted into the third person.

Currently, the petition has just a few supporters, as it has only just been made public. I'm waiting to see what happens, as the petition is more about gaining experience than the content. Next, I'll research how many supporters are needed.

#Chapter 4

Today I received a positive email with an attachment in form of a letter in English.

Content of the letter:

Dear Mr xxx, I am pleased to inform you that the Committee on Petitions has examined your petition and has declared it admissible, since the matter you raise falls within the European Union’s fields of activity. On this basis, I have asked the European Commission to conduct a preliminary investigation of the issue. Given the subject matter, I have also referred your petition to the European Parliament’s Committee xxx for information. Rest assured, I will keep you informed of any further action taken on your petition.