I get increasingly frustrated when trying to communicate by email with
members of the European Parliament and its committees.

I believe MEPs are provided with email and website facilities at little
or no cost. Certainly less than most of us pay privately for this
privilege. They should therefore publish this information so that
European citizens can communicate with them rapidly, cheaply and
unbureaucratically.

To this end I have addressed a petition to the European Parliament. I
suggest others do the same.

The URL for sending a petition electronically is

< http://www.europarl.eu.int/petition/petition_en.htm >

and is available in all European languages.

The text of my petition is as below. I am sure that many of you can do
better than this; but feel free to use the text if you wish. Write in
your own language too. Good hunting!

The right of petition.

Anyone residing in an EU member state has the right to submit a petition
to the European Parliament, individually or as part of a group, on
matters concerning them directly which fall within the European Union's
remit.


-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dear Madam, Dear Sir,


ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION WITH MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT


PETITION:
I/we request that, in this modern era of open government, all members of
the European Parliament should activate their EP electronic (email)
addresses and publish them, as they do their other contact details, on
their official European Parliament website.

REASON:

As far as we understand MEPs receive computer facilities and
email/website facilities free of charge. If this is correct, these
facilities are therefore paid for - in the final instance - by the
citizens of the member states through their taxes.

Increasing numbers of European citizens have access to internet
facilities and electronic mail. This is, compared with telephone,
telefax and letter post, a comparably very cheap method of
communication.

When individual MEPs do not activate or publish their email address
their constituents, or other citizens wishing to communicate with them
because of their actions, statements or participation in a committee,
are financially and democratically disadvantaged. This disadvantage is
further exacerbated in the case of people on lower incomes. Example: a
letter to members of the Environment Committee with 60 members would
cost, from Germany, a total of ˆ33,60. in postal charges at the normal
letter rate (2 pages). An instantaneous electronic mail to the same
committee costs a fraction of this some. At present 32 members of this
committee (53%), including the chairman, do not have - or do not publish
- an electronic mail address.

Yours faithfully,

David Conlin
on behalf of Proact International

-x-x-x-x-x-x-
David
--
David Conlin
Proact, campaigning for birds and their habitats .... joining costs
nothing...doing nothing costs birds! Join in at < www.proactnow.org/team
> the internet lobby forum by birders - for birders.