The European Citizens' Initiative - The basics

The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is the first supranational instrument of participatory democracy, allowing EU citizens to contribute to the EU’s agenda. 

In order to launch an ECI, organisers must form a group of at least 7 European citizens residing in 7 different Member States. To submit an ECI to the European Commission, organisers must collect at least 1 million signatures across the European Union within 12 months, including a minimum number in at least 7 Member States.
 
Similar mechanisms exist in some EU countries, but the European Citizens’ Initiative is unique as the world's first formal tool for cross-border participation. The threshold for submission is much lower compared to national levels, as 1 million signatures represent only 0.2% of all EU citizens. Since 2012, thanks to the European Citizens’ Initiative, EU citizens have the right to request the European Commission to propose new laws. If an ECI is successful, and the Commission decides to act on it, the proposal may then be examined and debated by the European Parliament and the Council as part of the EU’s legislative process.  
 
Want to learn more about how the ECI works? Check out the 'How it works' materials on the ECI website.

Want to learn more about how to launch an initiative and all the steps involved, find more information below.

The revised Regulation on the European Citizens’ Initiative was adopted in April 2019 and has applied since January 2020. To find out more about the legal framework, visit the ECI website.
 
Want to learn more about the rules for the ECI, check out our webinar: Webinar ‘New rules for the European Citizens’ Initiative as of 2020’

Once the organisers have their idea for their ECI, the next step is to ensure that it falls under the competences of the European Commission.

For further information on EU competences and the ECI registration process, check out the ‘how to prepare for registration’ section.  
 
Remember, the European Citizens’ Initiative Forum can provide organisers with tailor-made advice during the preparation phase of an initiative. Ask our experts.
 
Group of organisers
 
In addition to verifying that the Commission has competence to act, a group of organisers must be established to launch the initiative.

The group of organisers must comprise of at least 7 European citizens, old enough to vote in the European Parliament elections, and living in at least seven different Member States. Please note, it is not their nationalities that count, but their places of residence! 

Each ECI must designate two members of the organiser group as contact persons, a representative and a substitute, who will liaise with EU institutions on behalf of the group. The Commission will publish the names of all organisers and the email addresses of the contact persons in the official European Citizens’ Initiative register.

A legal entity may be created in order to manage an ECI, in accordance with the national law of a Member State. If established, details of this legal entity must be provided when registering the ECI. 

Organisers of an ECI have 12 months to collect at least 1 million statements of support, including a minimum number in at least 7 Member States (see map below). The organisers can choose the date from when they will start the collection of the statements of support (the ‘collection period’). Organisers have six months after the registration of their ECI to start the signature collection phase. Remember, the Commission must be informed of the start date at least 10 working days before that date.
 
Statements of support may be signed online or in paper form.
 
To learn more about collecting statements of support, visit our 'How to collect signatures' page.

Once the collection period is closed (at the end of the 12 months or earlier if the organisers wish so) and if the necessary number of statements of support have been collected, organisers have three months to submit the statements of support for verification.
 
The organisers must request that the competent national authorities of each signatory's Member State of nationality to certify the validity of their statements of support, even if these statements of support were collected in a different Member State. 
 
The Commission will take care of the submission of the statements of support collected online through the central online collection system.

The Commission will provide a secure file exchange service for transferring statements of support to the relevant authorities in the Member States. Both electronic statements of support and scanned versions of paper statements of support can be uploaded to the system in encrypted form. For more information, visit the ECI website. 
 
Statements of support need to be submitted to each competent authority in the responsible Member State using the form set out in Annex V of the regulation. Competent national authorities will issue a certificate within three months of the submission of the statements of support.

Once the organisers have obtained the last certificate from the competent national authorities, they have three months to submit the initiative to the European Commission. The organisers have to submit the specific form set out in Annex VII through their organiser account together with copies, in paper or electronic form, of the certificates obtained in the verification phase.

Publication and meeting with the European Commission

When the Commission receives a valid initiative, it will publish a notice in the official register and forward the initiative to the relevant European institutions and national parliaments.

Within one month of the submission, the initiative's organisers will meet with Commission representatives to provide a detailed explanation of their initiative.
 
Public hearing at the European Parliament

Within three months of submitting the initiative, the organisers will have the opportunity to present it at a public hearing in the European Parliament. Representatives from the European Commission will attend, and the Parliament will ensure a balanced representation of relevant public and private interests.

After the hearing, the European Parliament may hold a plenary debate and adopt a resolution in order to assess political support for the initiative.

Within six months of the submission of the initiative for examination and after the public hearing, the European Commission will issue a Communication outlining its decision. 

This Communication, published on the ECI website, will explain what actions the Commission intends to take, if any, along with the reasoning behind them. It will also provide the expected timeline for these actions. 

Additionally, the Commission notifies the European Parliament, the EU Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, and all national parliaments across the EU. The European Parliament will assess the measures taken by the Commission as a result of its Communication.