Government lukewarm on EU e-petitions

Europe Minister David Liddington will abstain in key vote

The UK government is being challenged over its lukewarm support for a European Union version of the coalition's plans for an e-petitions regime for the Westminster parliament.

Members of the European Parliament called for the creation of an online petitions portal last summer so citizens could shape and even suggest draft legislation.

MPs on the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, which scrutinises European Union draft regulations, reacted after Europe Minister David Liddington said he would abstain in a key European Council vote on the Citizens' Initiative procedure.

Under this procedure the Commission can be "invited" to put proposals for EU-wide legislation to the European Parliament if they have the support of at least a million voters spread across a quarter of EU member states.

Liddington told MPs the UK government supports the principle but warned that proposals drafted by Brussels will place "an unnecessary burden" on member states and citizens.

He also said he regretted that there was insufficient support in the Council of Ministers to delay implementation to find time to iron out concerns about verification and data protection issues.

The Committee, which has called for a debate in Westminster, said there needs to be tighter definition of the grounds on which the Commission can refuse to register an initiative and an appeals process.

It said there also needs to be agreement that random checks on the signatories and not verification of each name will be required, satisfaction on data privacy issues and more clarity about who within the UK will be responsible for ensuring compliance.

The MPs also wanted to know if the procedures would be similar to those for the UK's proposed e-petitions system requiring the Commons to debate motions signed by more than 100,000 electors, with a right for the most strongly supported legislative proposal to be put to a vote.

Liddington's memorandum to the committee indicated he believed it will be carried in Brussels despite UK concerns.