European Citizens’ Initiative

The European Commission decided to register a new citizens’ initiative – the first for 2022 – on 2 February. Organisers of ‘Win it on the Pitch’ call for adopting a Council Recommendation on protecting the model of sport (especially football) in Europe, based on values, solidarity, sustainability, and open competitions.

‘Sport is an integral part of European society and culture’, outline the organisers, who want to stop the ‘takeovers by private individuals and groups whose only aim is to make money’.

Organisers have 6 months to launch the initiative and begin collecting signatures.

Organisers of the ‘Green VAT - An EU Green VAT to stimulate sustainable and eco-friendly products and services’ ECI launched their signature collection period on 9 February. They now have 1 year to collect 1 million signatures.

This ECI calls on the Commission to initiate tax reductions for ecological, sustainably produced and environmentally friendly products in Europe, so that all Member States could actively support climate and environmental protection.

Organisers of citizens’ initiative ‘Ensuring Common Commercial Policy conformity with EU Treaties and compliance with international law’ started their 12-month collection period on 20 February.

The initiative invites the Commission to submit a proposal for a legal act under the Common Commercial Policy to prevent EU legal entities from both importing products originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories and exporting to such territories. The objectives also make clear that the legal act that is asked for is general in nature and does not target a specific country or territory.

CitizenCentral puts a spotlight on the people behind European citizens’ initiatives. Organisers, policy experts and citizens share their views about the topics raised by various initiatives.

There are now 6 episodes of CitizenCentral released for your listening pleasure. Whether you like to listen during your commute, over your lunchbreak or while cooking – there's a lot to learn from your fellow EU citizens and ECI organiser peers.

The most recent episode features the on-going and past initiatives: ‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics’, ‘Stop Global Warming – a price for carbon to fight climate change’ and ‘Fraternité 2020 - Mobility. Progress. Europe.’

Tune in and discover the podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, and SoundCloud. Subscribe and share with your networks today!

Did you know that there are more than 20 ECI Ambassadors who formally help spread the word about the European Citizens’ Initiative and encourage EU citizens to get involved in policymaking? ECI Ambassadors come from a wide range of organisations active at local, national and European level.

A meet-up of ECI Ambassadors took place online on 23 February – with another one scheduled for 15 March. Participants had the opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas for how to support the ECI 10th Anniversary promotion.

If you or your organisation are active in participatory democracy and are interested in learning more about how to promote the ECI to your network, check out the ECI Forum blogs and our communications materials page. You can also follow this space for inspiration in the months to come.

Meet your ECI Ambassadors by clicking ‘more’ below.

Who knows best what brings European youth on board to engage in EU politics? A young activist, of course! In a blog post for the ECI Forum, European Citizens' Initiative organiser Sinead O'Keeffe (‘Voters Without Borders’) provides firsthand experience.

Sinead discusses lessons from getting started, how the team approaches online campaigning, the differences between communicating with EU citizens and lobbying politicians, and more.

Read (or watch) the full interview below.

As a reader of this newsletter, you know that the European Citizens’ Initiative is one of the main tools that EU citizens can use to participate in EU democracy. But how aware are you of other tools to make your voice heard? In our General Factsheet you can find a short guide to the participatory democracy landscape at EU level – including 5 examples to get involved.

This factsheet is available on our Communication Materials page (in the ‘Infographics and Factsheets’ section), and it includes quotes from initiative organisers. Check out the information – available in 24 EU languages – and feel free to share.

Are you really ready to submit your European citizens’ initiative for registration? Use this handy ECI Check List to make sure your team has covered the main elements and potential challenges of running an ECI campaign.

The check list is part of the European Democracy Passport, researched and written by ECI Ambassador Bruno Kaufmann, and published by the European Economic and Social Committee. Check out all that the passport has to offer you on your path to active citizenship at different political levels!