News

The ECI Forum continues to directly engage with university students. ECI experts take the opportunity to discuss the potential of participatory democracy in Europe generally, and the ECI as an important tool more specifically. Over 400 students attended sessions organised throughout the year.

Would you like us to make a presentation at your university and exchange with you and other students? Contact the ECI Forum via ECIforum@ecas.org.

Learn more about the Central Online Collection System from an interview with Jérôme Stefanini, the IT project officer responsible for the system at the Commission. In this blog post, he describes the key properties and advantages of the system.

Introducing a new way to connect and interact with organisers, stakeholders and interested citizens through the European Citizens’ Initiative Facebook Group! As a member of this group, you will be able to stay informed and share information, news and events concerning the European Citizens’ Initiative in general and specific initiatives.

During its 26 April meeting, the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament listened to a presentation from a representative of the initiative Ensuring Common Commercial Policy conformity with EU Treaties and compliance with international law, also known as ‘Stop Trade with Settlements'.

This ECI finished collection in February 2023, with over 270,000 signatures. Watch the recording by clicking ‘more’.

‘VEGAN MEAL’. As more and more people are turning to a vegan lifestyle, for moral, environmental or health reasons, this initiative asks for a legal requirement that there is always a vegan option available in private and public venues selling food and drink in Europe.

Ensuring a dignified reception of migrants in Europe. The initiative stems from the fundamental EU value of human dignity and asks for two regulations: one on the distribution of asylum seekers in the EU, based on their own free will; and another for guaranteed standards for their reception in all EU countries.

‘Whatever It Takes’. In 2012, when Europe was dragged into the international financial crisis, Mario Draghi uttered these three ‘magic words’ and marked a new era for the role of the ECB in the eurozone, paving the way for financial stability in the face of the worst recession to hit Europe since the Second World War. This initiative calls for a day to be dedicated to this event to remind all of us what the EU is capable of achieving, even when faced with such overwhelming obstacles.

On 18 April, the European Commission registered the initiative ‘Connecting all European capitals and citizens through a highspeed train network’. This is the 100th citizens’ initiative registered since 2012.

The organisers ask for the establishment of a European high-speed train network as quickly as possible. This means linking up the existing high-speed railway networks and building high-speed lines where these do not yet exist. They now have six months to collect 1 million signatures of support from at least 7 EU countries.

On 5 April, the European Commission formally replied to the ‘Save Bees and Farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment’ initiative, the 7th valid citizens’ initiative.

The organisers of the initiative called for the phasing out of synthetic pesticides by 2035; the restoration of biodiversity in agriculture; and support for farmers in the transition to sustainable farming. The Commission welcomed this initiative and appreciated that the level of support for the initiative demonstrated the strength of feeling of EU citizens.

In its reply, the Commission pointed out that, after the initiative had been initially registered, a number of legislative proposals had been submitted that deal with the very issues raised, and it called on the Parliament and Council to agree on and move forward with these proposals swiftly.

See the factsheet on this reply here.

Commissioner Sinkevičius and representatives of the involved directorates-general presented the Commission reply to the organisers at a meeting on 25 April 2023.

Is there a time limit for the Commission to answer a valid citizens’ initiative?

Yes! The Commission has 6 months - from the date the initiative was submitted with proof of 1 million valid signatures – to issue a communication. This answer outlines the measures the Commission plans to take, if any, as well as justifications and a timeline of next steps. The communication is published in all EU official languages on the ECI website.

The Commission also notifies the European Parliament, the EU Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions, as well as all national parliaments in the EU.

‘Crucially, rural depopulation threatens the loss of cultural heritage practices, rural traditions and, in some cases, minority languages or dialects.’

Learn more about why this threat is important to EU citizens and what the organisers of the 'Protect Rural Heritage' initiative are fighting for. This blog post outlines the key reasons why the organisers launched this ECI and what it wants to achieve.

Read this blog post by clicking ‘more’.

Did you miss the webinar ‘Collecting Signatures Online – What you need to know about the Central Online Collection System with testimonials from successful ECIs’?

Watch the webinar here.

This webinar provided practical information and guidance on collecting signatures online with a focus on the Central Online Collection System from the IT Project Officer responsible and personal experience of an organiser of a successful initiative.

On 1 April, the ECI celebrates its 11th anniversary! This date marks the day when the first ECI regulation started to apply. Did you know that since 2012 nearly 100 initiatives were registered and received some 18 million signatures? To find out more and to spread the word about this unique participatory tool, head over to our Communication material page for videos and factsheets in all EU official languages.

There is a wide array of communication materials available on the ECI website.

This page has recently been updated and translated into all official EU languages. Be sure to check out the videos about the ECI, social media images, fact and figures, and leaflets to spread the word.

Most materials are available in all official languages – choose your language in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Interested in learning more about participatory democracy in Europe, or the process of developing a successful European citizens’ initiative? There are many ways to engage with ECI experts – via an online course or at your university.

The online course: Essential Skills for European Citizens' Initiative Organisers gives participants an interactive opportunity to learn how to develop successful European citizens’ initiatives under the guidance of experts in the field.

The ECI Forum is also available to make a presentation for your university and exchange with students. More than 300 people took part last year. Contact the ECI Forum via ECIforum@ecas.org.

How satisfied are you with the ECI Newsletter? Do you have improvements to suggest?

We invite you to click ‘more’ and answer the 6 questions. Your answers will help us continue to improve the newsletter.

Thank you in advance!

Organisers of the European citizens' initiative ‘Stop Finning – Stop the trade’ met with representatives of the European Commission (Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries) on 6 February.

The organisers presented the objectives of the initiative in depth, as well as facts, figures and testimonies. This meeting takes place after the initiative became the 8th successful ECI.

The Commission is analysing the initiative and has until 11 July 2023 to present its official reply.

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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.

Minimum age to support European citizens’ initiatives corresponds to the age to be entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament. Belgium has lowered the minimum voting age for these elections from 18 to 16 for all EU citizens living in the country. This measure will enter into force on 1 May 2023. As of this moment, young people aged 16-18 will also be able to support European citizens’ initiatives.

The ECI Forum has updated an infographic where you can find interesting facts and figures on citizens’ initiatives between 2012 and 2022, their organisers (country of origin and residence, age) or funding.

For instance, did you know that more than 1.4 million people - in Germany, France and Italy alone -signed ECIs through the Central Online Collection System between January 2020 and May 2022? Find more figures in the PDF by clicking ‘more’.

Check out the new blog post on the ECI Forum: "Young Italians Test the European Citizens Initiative as a Tool to Mobilise for the Climate” .  Maria Pia Napoletano, a youth professional and coordinator of the Young European Ambassadors (YEA) initiative, outlines how participants learned about the ECI and simulated starting their own initiatives during the workshop.

This event was a part of the #TheGreenTrack campaign, launched in 2022 by the European Commission to amplify youth voices and participation in relation to environmental issues, and organised by YEA.

Check out other blog posts on the ECI Forum by ECI organisers and experts: https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative-forum/blog_en

Check out the latest video with current ECI organisers in the ECI Forum LEARN page. Meet-and-greet with five organisers of the following citizens’ initiatives: ‘Civil Servant Exchange Programme’, ‘European EcoScore’, and ‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics’.