mr president this is one of the most important democratic advances for the european union
two thirds of the people of ireland voted for the lisbon treaty and one of the reasons was because of the availability of this citizens initiative
for the first time citizens on a transnational basis can request that the commission bring forward proposals
but this needs to be a transparent process
we must know who is organising these initiatives and we must know who is funding these initiatives
they must not be captured by corporate interests
the commission which will have to decide on whether or not to act on a proposal must not be the body that decides on its admissibility in my view
i believe we must expand the role of the ombudsman to decide on a central european level what is admissible and what is not admissible
the minimum number of states that is necessary i believe should be seven not nine as proposed or indeed as suggested by the commission and i must argue and insist that the one million threshold set by the treaty should not be breached
it must not be raised by having a high proportion of citizens in member states and a high number of member states
it is extremely important that the treaties are complied with
and finally could i say that i believe it should be possible to enable citizens to register on the internet
