According to the president of the Chamber’s petition commission, MP Nancy Kemp-Arendt, the most popular petition of 2022 with 18,000 signatures was the one proposing a constitutional referendum. The politician from the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) emphasised however that this petition drew a particularly significant amount of attention, in no small part because her party pledged its support in the event the proposal managed to reach a minimum of 25,000 signatures.
Another successful petition was the one advocating improved teleworking regulations with 14,000 registered signatures.
In general, healthcare-related issues have most occupied people’s minds since the beginning of the pandemic, Kemp-Arendt explained to RTL. According to the commission president, a change in tendency towards private finances and housing is however starting to show.
The CSV politician thus labelled the petition mechanism the “pulse of the nation”.
She further noted that some petitions even manage to have an impact before they even make it to the debate stage in the Chamber of Deputies. Kemp-Arendt elaborated that citizens’ motions often draw the attention of her colleagues to certain issues, as was for instance the case with the proposal concerned with paediatric oncology capacity, which helped clarify that there is a shortage of isolation beds, as well as doctors.
Some of the most difficult debates related to the coronavirus pandemic, said Kemp-Arendt, particularly as the majority within the Chamber did not share the same opinion as the petitioner. Many petitions questioned the Covid restrictions put in place by the government, for example. But it is important to listen to people who have different opinions, the MP noted.
Among the petitions with debates pending in the Chamber this year are those focusing on the topic of working from home; the extension of the roadworthiness inspection validity period for cars; and equal access for MRIs and mammographs. Once the debates have been conducted in the Chamber, a meeting of the relevant committees usually takes place to see how best to adapt the legal texts in order to address the issues raised.
