Online Collection Software 5.0 has been published on Joinup

On the 13^th of August 2020, the new version of the Online Collection Software (OCS 5.0) has been published on Joinup.



The OCS is an Open Source web application available for free and makes it easier for organisers of European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECIs) to comply with legal requirements and to have their online collection systems certified by the relevant Member State authorities. The new version is compliant with the new Regulation (EU) 2019/788 on the ECIs that entered into force on the 1^st of January 2020.



Since the start of the European Citizens Initiative instrument, the OCS has been downloaded more than 3.500 times,  50 initiatives used it and it enabled more than seven million European Citizens to give their support to the European Citizens’ Initiative of their choice.

This open source tool has also been used by the European Commission as the main building block of the new European Commission Central Collection System. 



ECIs were introduced with the Lisbon Treaty and launched as an agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens in April 2012. Once formally registered, a ECI allows one million citizens from at least one quarter of EU Member States to invite the European Commission to propose a legal act in areas where the Commission has the power to do so. More information on the ECIs is available here.