Join our FB group! You will have quick access to information, news, and events concerning the European Citizens’ Initiative, as well as the possibility to share your own content. Join the group by clicking ‘more’ below.
In July, the European Commission formally replied to two successful initiatives: 'Stop Finning – Stop the trade' and 'Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics'.
Check out the latest factsheets, available in all EU languages, to learn more about the aims of the two initiatives and the Commission’s reply.
On 21 September, the ‘End The Horse Slaughter Age’ citizen’s initiative opened for signature collection.
This initiative calls on the Commission to ban the slaughter of horses, as well as their breeding and export for the production of fur, leather, meat or for the manufacture of medicines or other substances.
If you would like to support this initiative, click on the link below.
Applications to the ImagineEU video competition, based on the ECI concept, will be open as of 16 October!
Students in their final two years of high school from all EU countries can team up with up to seven classmates and record their idea on how they see the EU becoming a better place to live. Having worked on the ‘EU Democracy in Action – Have Your Say with the ECI’ toolkit in classroom can be a useful preparation.
Find out more about the competition in English. Translations in all EU languages are coming on 13 October!
Organisers of ‘Fur Free Europe’ ECI, submitted for Commission’s reply on 16 June, presented their initiative’s objectives in the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 20 September. The next step is the public hearing in the European Parliament on 12 October.
The Commission will adopt its official reply by 14 December 2023.
On 21 September, the ‘End The Horse Slaughter Age’ citizen’s initiative opened for signature collection.
This initiative calls on the Commission to ban the slaughter of horses, as well as their breeding and export for the production of fur, leather, meat or for the manufacture of medicines or other substances.
If you would like to support this initiative, click on the link below.
On 16 August, the Commission registered a new initiative, ‘Preservation and development of Ukrainian culture, education, language, and traditions in EU states’. It aims to empower Ukrainian cultural and linguistic heritage in the EU community, fostering a sense of belonging and promoting integration for Ukrainian refugees.
If you would like to support this initiative, check on our website to see when signature collection opens.
Your support can count wherever you are.
Even if you are living outside the EU, you can still support an initiative. When you are signing, just select the country you are national of, and your vote will be counted there.
Check out our FAQs for all your ECI queries.
The ECI Forum continues to directly engage with university students. Would you like us to make a presentation at your university? Contact the ECI Forum at eciforum@ecas.org.
Discover the insights of Mojca Erman, the legal expert from the ECI Forum’s Seek Advice service, and find out how this service actively supports initiative organisers. Get expert tips on formulating requests for the best outcomes.
Did you know that some Member States have their own digital participatory democracy tools? Learn more about the Estonian participatory democracy tool, Rahvaalgatus.ee (People’s initiative) and see how it compares to the European citizens’ initiative.
The Spanish TV channel ‘La Sexta’ prepared a short informative material on the ECI, with the participation of the ECI ambassador Enrique and ECI organisers: Raquel from the ‘Stop Tobacco’ initiative, Noa from ‘Save Bees and Farmers!’ and Pedro from the ‘High-Speed Train Network’ initiative.
Join our new FB group! You will have quick access to information, news, and events concerning the European Citizens’ Initiative, as well as the option to share your own content. Join the group by clicking ‘more’ below.
Additionally, please help us continue to improve this newsletter by taking a 6-question survey.
On 10 July, the ‘Article 4: Stop torture and inhuman treatment at Europe’s borders’ citizen’s initiative opened for signature collection.
This initiative calls on the Commission to ensure that the rights such as freedom from violence, torture, and inhuman and degrading treatment are ensured for migrants and asylum seekers at EU borders..
If you would like to support this initiative, click on the link below.
On 19 July, signature collection closed for the ‘Good Clothes, Fair Pay’ initiative. It collected over 240,000 signatures.
On 11 July, the Commission registered a new initiative, ‘Taxing great wealth to finance the ecological and social transition’. This initiative calls on the Commission to draw up legislation that would create a new tax on extremely high levels of wealth. The organisers want the revenue raised in this way to be used to feed just ecological and social transition policies, such as the Green Deal and the cohesion policy.
To support this initiative, keep checking our website.
Organisers of ‘Fur Free Europe’ call for banning fur farms in the EU and farmed fur products from the European market. They collected 1,502,319 valid signatures, with thresholds reached in 18 countries. They met with Vice-President Věra Jourová and Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on 20 July and will get an official reply by mid-December.
Want to learn more about the initiative itself and get insights on how to run a successful ECI campaign? Listen to organiser Elise Fleury in this CitizenCentral podcast episode.
Following the debate on the Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics - Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing initiative in the plenary of the European Parliament on 10 July, the Commission formally replied on 25 July.
The organisers call for phasing out of animal testing, for cosmetics, chemicals and other purposes. In its reply, the Commission outlined three main actions to further reduce animal testing. Firstly, it will protect and strengthen the already existing animal testing ban for cosmetics. Secondly, the Commission will work on a roadmap towards chemical safety assessments that are free from animal testing. This roadmap will be the guiding framework for future actions in reducing animal testing in that field. Thirdly, it will continue its funding on the development of alternative approaches, complemented with a series of actions to accelerate the reduction of animal testing in research, education and training.
On 5 July, the Commission formally replied to the Stop Finning – Stop the trade, the 8th valid citizens’ initiative.
The organisers called on the Commission to extend an existing regulation to prevent sharks having their fins removed and traded around the world. ‘Finning’ consists of cutting fins from living sharks before they are thrown back, still alive, into the water.
The Commission welcomed the initiative and committed to acting in three areas. It will examine the possibility of initiating legislation to prevent the trade in loose fins. To that end, it will carry out an impact assessment and it will improve the collection of statistics. It will also step up EU traceability measures and work with international partners to end this illicit and barbaric practice.
Lire le bulletin en français ici. Sur la nouvelle page (en haut de la page) cliquez sur l'icône pour sélectionner la traduction française.
Lesen Sie hier den Newsletter auf Deutsch. Klicken Sie auf der neuen Seite (ganz oben) auf das Symbol, um die deutsche Übersetzung auszuwählen.
A kind reminder: this newsletter has automatic machine translation into 23 EU languages. Want to switch languages? Click ‘more’ and select the language of your choice at the top of the page. Thanks for keeping in mind this is machine-generated.
There may be costs involved in getting your initiative started and getting people to support it. If you receive financial help to organise and promote your initiative, there are rules about what you must declare.
You must provide information on all funding above EUR 500 per sponsor and you need to provide this information when you submit your request for registration and update it at least every 2 months.
If you receive any non-financial support, this may also have to be declared.
The details of your support and sponsors will be published in our online register. For reasons of transparency, it is important that people who sign your initiative know where your funds are coming from.
For more information about this and anything else you need to know about the ECI, check out our FAQs.
