European Citizens’ Initiative

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It has been another busy year for the European Citizens’ Initiative. 10 new initiatives were registered, 10 opened for signature collection and 1 successful initiative was submitted to the Commission for examination and reply. In addition, many activities took place to spread the word to citizens across the EU (for example Member State events and the formation of the ECI communicators network), and more.

As the year comes to a close, we’d like to thank everyone who has helped support the European Citizens' Initiative grow this year: the organisers – past and present – who spread their passion to help every European participate in democracy. To the supporters – who sign ECIs and share information about this right we all hold. To the teams of people behind the scenes – at the EU institutions, ECI Forum, ECI Ambassadors and partners, and those in the individual campaigns. Thank you!

We wish you all a happy and healthy holiday period, time with your loved ones, and a great start to 2023. We are gearing up for a new year filled with more successful initiatives and a common space to share updates online!

Be well and #EUTakeTheInitiative!

Looking forward to the new year, here are a few things to keep an eye out for:

- April: the Commission’s reply to ‘Save bees and farmers’ ECI

- May: Europe Day (9/5)– a great time to promote the European Citizens’ Initiative locally

- June: ECI Day (8/6) – hosted at the European Economic and Social Committee

- June: ECI presence at the European Youth Event (EYE) (9-10/6) in Strasbourg, France

This year, as required by the ECI Regulation, the Commission is carrying out a review of the functioning of the European Citizens' Initiative and will present a report to the European Parliament and the Council before the end of 2023.

In addition, ECI materials for schools and a school competition will be released progressively throughout 2023.

Stay tuned for more information on specific promotion and events in 6 focus countries: Estonia, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted at its December plenary an own-initiative opinion on "European Citizens Initiative - Save bees and farmers", thus contributing to the ongoing interinstitutional debate on the latest successful ECI and its objectives.

Read the full EESC opinion by clicking 'more’.

We invite you to tell us more about your experiences with the ECI and yourself!

A short citizen survey about the European Citizens’ Initiative is live. Share your views today, in the language of your choice. The results will feed into the Commission’s review of the functioning of the ECI. Questions cover a variety of topics – from knowledge of how the ECI works to whether you have ever wanted to start a new ECI, and more.

We look forward to your feedback!

Would your organisation be interested in receiving EU funding?

Discover the new calls for proposals under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme. For example: Call for proposals to promote civil society organisations’ awareness of, capacity building and implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights or to promote equality and to fight against racism, xenophobia and discrimination.

On 24 January, the organiser group of the ‘Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment' citizens’ initiative will feature in a public hearing at the European Parliament. Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová and Commissioners Virginijus Sinkevičius and Janusz Wojciechowski, responsible, respectively, for Environment and Agriculture, will attend, alongside MEPs and experts.

You can watch the hearing live.

More information and the hyperlink to follow live will be shared in the news of the ECI homepage before the hearing starts.

CitizenCentral podcast has released a new episode with three European citizens’ initiative organisers, from the Netherlands, France and Denmark. They present the ideas and stories behind ‘Good Clothes, Fair Pay’, ‘Win it on the Pitch’, and ‘Stop 5G – Stay Connected but Protected’ initiatives.

Tune in and discover the podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

Subscribe and share CitizenCentral podcast today!

Check out a new video about the Central Online Collection System (COCS) - featuring Jerôme Stefanini, the IT officer responsible for the system at the Commission and ECI organisers.

Coming soon in 2023: a Guidance Note on the Central Online Collection System with information for organisers about using this collection system.

In 2022, the ECI Forum published 17 blog posts from ECI organisers and stakeholders! Check the most recent one on the power of civil society organisations’ support to ECIs.

The ECI Forum also conducted 7 training sessions with newly registered ECIs and presented the ECI Forum to 11 universities, reaching over 340 students.