First ECIs registered – now the race for signatures begins
Just six weeks after the launch of the European Citizens' Initiative, the first ECIs have been officially registered by the European Commission, allowing them to start collecting signatures in support of their proposals.
The very first ECI registered on the Commission's official website was Fraternité2020, an initiative promoting increased mobility between Member States, and was welcomed by Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič as a fitting first ECI to be registered on Europe Day, 9 May.
"I am thrilled that European Citizens' Initiatives are finally a reality. This is a great boost for participatory democracy in Europe. Now the race is on to see which initiative will be the first to gather one million signatures," he said.
Several other ECIs have also been registered, including ones focused on the right to vote, animal welfare, water quality and mobile telephone charges.
Each now has one year to gather the necessary one million signatures before being eligible to move onto the next phase of the process.
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