A majority of MPs want to speed up the system whereby citizens can apply to have particular topics discussed in parliament, reports Trouw on Thursday.

Citizens’ initiatives, introduced five years ago, currently set the barrier too high, say MPs. They require 40,000 signatures to qualify for consideration, and the demands include they must be for a topic not discussed in parliament for the past two years.
MPs from the PVV, Labour, GroenLinks, D66 and the Socialist Party argue that citizens’ initiatives strengthen the link between people and politics. With six out of ten applications denied over the past five years, the system as it stands merely disappoints people.
The MPs want the current rules eased but CDA MP Ger Koopmans says lowering the criteria would devalue the system. ‘There are other ways of getting topics on to the agenda,’ he told Trouw. ‘Phone an MP for example,’