Thus was created a new actor - the civic society as a "watch dog" of the process of implementing the transfer of the legal acts. Moreover since Bulgaria has joined the European Union on 1st January 2007, Bulgarian citizens have actively used their right to send petitions to the European parliament. The right to petition was created to provide EU citizens and residents with a simple way of contacting the institutions with a request or complaint. This right is embodied in the EC Treaty in Articles 21 and 194, and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It is a corollary of European Union citizenship. To be declared admissible, the petition must relate to a subject falling within the sphere of activity of the European Community and concern the petitioner directly. Overall the European Parliament has a legislative, political and budgetary role as an institution of the EU.

As a member of the Committee on Petitions, judge, lawyer and as an activist in various NGOs, I have always been involved with the issues set by the citizens. Making a comparative analysis of the Bulgarian experience with the Committee on the Petitions so far, we can see that the Bulgarian citizens very fluently started to use their rights and to alert the Institutions of the different problems within their country. The Committee on Petitions has so far received 115 petitions from Bulgarian citizens, and more of them have been forwarded to the European Commission for further investigation.  The Bulgarian petitions vary in terms of topics and issues – ranging from environment to competition to social affairs and more.

Since the beginning of the mandate in May 2007, we have got petitions on environmental issues. Such a petition is Petition ? 0745 from 2007 on behalf of Balkani Wildlife Society about the failure of the Bulgarian government to live up to commitments under Natura 2000 environmental network. The petition was declared admissible, because it claims that there is violation of Directive 92/43 for the preservation of natural habitats of the wild flora and fauna. The European Parliament and its Committee on Petitions embody citizen control that spreads further to the work of the European Commission as well. Very often during our sittings, when we are disenchanted with the feedback from the European Commission, we demand more information or more details. The Committee on Petitions is assigned with studying facts from the standpoint of the institution that belongs to the citizens; with coordinating the discussion of the problem with the European Commission, and when violations are too serious and the petition is of great public relevance, like for instance the Polish petition about the bird route Via Baltica, then it may urge the European Commission to start an infringement procedure before the European Court of justice. In this particular case a road has been built going across a nesting territory. Meeting the Committee on Petitions, Poland’s Transport Minister explained how the road had been built and why requirements had been neglected.

There is another method of action when petitioners submit very important complaints. It is the so-called fact-finding mission. A working group appointed by the Committee on Petitions among its members goes on a mission to the respective country and gets acquainted on the spot with the claims of petitioners and with the stance of state bodies and institutions. After that a detailed report is prepared and presented to the Committee on Petitions. In this context in 2008 a delegation of the Committee, first led by Marcin Libicki, chairman, and later by Kathy Sinnott, vice-chair, visited Bulgaria in order to meet with different representatives of petitioners’ claims and to discuss the questions raised by petitioners in Sofia, Rila, Chelopech, and Gabrovo. The visit to Bulgaria aimed to get a more thorough understanding of the situation in Bulgaria and the problems described by Bulgarian citizens in their petitions, but also to publicize the work and the remit of the Committee on Petitions.  The visit also gave the participants the opportunity to meet with Bulgarian authorities in the specific case where we suppose a violation of the law by the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Social Affairs.

One of the first petitions, which gives me a great assurance in the role of the Committee in bridging the distance between Citizens and the Parliament,  is the petition by Ivan Shumkov (Bulgarian), on behalf of the Initiative Committee against the Terror of Long Vehicles in Transit through Gabrovo, on Fighting the Terror Long Vehicles Transiting Gabrovo. The petitioners from Gabrovo in 2007 established an Initiative Committee, which addressed the minister of transport, the minister of regional development and public works, the director of the Road Infrastructure Fund and the Bulgarian Ombudsman, demanding a suspension of transit traffic at night and on weekends in the city, an efficient safety conditions and ban on stopping and parking of long vehicles along the thoroughfare. As their requests were not followed up or not even replied to, they subsequently petitioned the European Parliament. As a result, the Committee worked on the case and alert calls on the Bulgarian Government to respect the EU legislation in the environmental area and to evaluate and analyze the pollution problems and the impact on the health of citizens in the concerned regions were made.

Analyzing the different petitions, coming from Southeastern Europe, it is inevitable not to mention the petition, from Greece by Theodoros Tenezos on behalf of IRON TENCO A.E., on the Hellenic Competition Commission and the Greek steel market, presenting an interesting case on how small entrepreneurs are not protected. The petitioner draws the attention of the members of the Committee on Petitions to the handling of his complaint by the Hellenic Competition Commission concerning an alleged cartel in the steel market in Greece. Also from Greece, was the petition on environmentally damaging activities in the Leonti Kipselis area of the Greek island of Aigina.

The numerous petitions from the citizens of the European Union from Southeast Europe, present a variety of issues of concern. The final decision on them leads, as it is the procedure to a stand on the petition. All those mechanisms seek not so much to identify culprits, but rather to exert pressure on institutions and thus make them carry out better work.

The European Parliament brings the citizens closer to different policies, which is one of the main objectives of the Committee on Petitions. My position as a member of the European Parliament, elected by the citizens, underlines the need the politics to be made of and with the involvement of the citizens. In addition, I hope that the future members of the EP will continue with their efforts to get closer to the citizens and their problems, and will continue to respond to the emerging problems, presented in the petitions.