REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report on the application of Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 on the citizens' initiative
Date: 2018-03-28
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: European citizens' initiative, data collection, participatory democracy, petition, power of initiative

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 28.3.2018 COM(2018) 157 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report on the application of Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 on the citizens' initiative  
 
 
The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is an instrument that allows one million citizens to 
invite the European Commission to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the 
purpose of implementing the Treaties. It is a tool for agenda-setting and participation in 
the democratic life of the Union. The rules governing the European Citizens' Initiative are 
based on the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty1 and are implemented through the Regulation 
on the Citizens' Initiative, which has been in application since 1 April 20122. Since then, 
organisers of initiatives have gathered an estimated 9 million statements of support from 
citizens across the European Union. 

Article  22  of  the  ECI  Regulation  foresees  that  every  three  years,  the  Commission  shall 
present  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  application  of  this 
Regulation.  

2015-2018:  TOWARDS A REVISED CITIZENS' INITIATIVE 

The  first  Commission  report  adopted  on  31  March  2015  listed  a  number  of  challenges 
arising  in  the  implementation  of  the  ECI  Regulation  in  its  current  form,  ranging  from 
technical or logistical aspects to issues of a more political nature3.  

This report triggered a review of the ECI instrument to collect views on ways to improve 
its  implementation.  This  involved  consultations  with,  and  contributions  from  key 
stakeholders  and  interlocutors,  including  EU  institutions  and  advisory  bodies,  Member 
States,  civil  society  organisations  and  ECI  organisers.  The  ‘ECI  Days’  organised  each 
year since 2012 by the European Economic and Social Committee and some civil society 
partners have provided a forum for discussion and input. Other EU institutions and bodies, 
as  well  as  various  stakeholders,  have  also  carried  out  their  own  assessments  and 
evaluations  of  the  instrument.  In  particular,  the  European  Parliament  issued  a  resolution 
on 28 October 20154, which called for a revision of the Regulation. 

Against this background, the Commission adopted a proposal for a new Regulation on the 
Citizens’  Initiative  on  13  September  20175  (referred  to  in  the  rest  of  this  report  as  'the 
proposal').  Its  objective  is  to  achieve  the  full  potential  of  the  ECI  by  making  it  more 

1 Art. 11(4) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 24 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union. 

2  Regulation  (EU)  N°  211/2011  adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  February  2011.  This 
Regulation is complemented by Commission implementing regulation (EU) N° 1179/2011 of 17 November 2011 
on the technical specifications for online collection systems.  

3 Report on the application of Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 on the citizens' initiative – 31 March 2015. 

4 European Parliament resolution of 28 October 2015 on the European Citizens’ Initiative. 

5 COM(2017) 482 – 13.09.2017 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
accessible, less burdensome and easier to use for organisers and supporters. The proposal 
takes  account  of  the  numerous  inputs  gathered  over  the  previous  years,  as  well  as 
comments  received  in  the  context  of  a  public  consultation  held  in  2017  on  the  revision. 
These  are  summarised  in  a  staff  working  document  accompanying  the  proposal,  which 
also  includes  details  on  the  issues  regarding  the  functioning  of  the  ECI,  as  well  as  an 
analysis of options for improvement6, building on the studies the Commission launched to 
accompany the revision of the ECI7. 

The proposal addresses the main shortcomings the review identified, namely: 

 

the difficulties for citizens to propose legally admissible initiatives – this is evidenced 
by the relatively high rate of refusals of registration before signatures can be collected 
(30%  of  requests  for  registration  could  not  be  registered  by  the  Commission  as  the 
proposed initiatives were manifestly outside the scope of the Commission's powers); 

  a complex and burdensome process for organisers of initiatives to collect statements of 
support,  as  evidenced  by  the  low  rate  of  successful  initiatives  (i.e.  initiatives  that 
manage  to  reach  the  required  number  of  signatories  within  the  one  year  collection 
period);  e.g.  inflexibilities  in  the  ECI  timeline;  differing  data  requirements  for 
signatories  from  one  Member  State  to  another;  complex  process  for  collecting 
statements of support online; 

  overall, a relatively limited debate and impact so far generated by citizens' initiatives. 

Within the present legal order, the Commission has already taken various non-legislative 
measures  to  introduce  practical  improvements  in  implementing  the  ECI  instrument.  In 
particular, it has provided free of charge hosting servers for organisers' online collection 
systems,  reinforced  advice  and  support  to  (potential)  organisers  and  communication 
activities, improved the user-friendliness of the online collection software that organisers 
can choose to use and it has decided where appropriate to partially register initiatives.  

In  particular, the sharp decrease in the proportion of requests for registration  refused by 
the  Commission  (only  2  refusals  out  of  17  proposed  initiatives  submitted  since  April 
2015, in comparison to 20 out of 51 in the period from April 2012 to March 2015) can be 
also attributed  to  the  introduction  by  the  Commission  of  the  practice of  allowing  partial 
registrations in cases where such an approach is justified. 

These  changes  brought  significant  improvements,  but  were  of  a  non-legislative  nature 
only.  In  order  to  ensure  that  the  ECI  instrument  is  fully  effective  and  accessible,  the 

6 The Staff Working Document is available on the Review dedicated page of the ECI website. 

7 In addition to a study on ICT impacts of the Regulation on the citizens'  initiative issued in June 2015, three 
other studies were commissioned by the Commission on signatories' data requirements; on the use of electronic 
identification  (eID);  and  on  online  collection  systems  and  technical  specifications  pursuant  to  ECI  Regulation 
(EU) No 211/2011 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1179/2011. These studies are available on the Review 
dedicated page of the ECI website.  

2 

 
 
                                                 
adoption  of  a  new  regulation  is  a  priority  as  identified  in  the  Joint  Declaration  on 
legislative priorities for 2018-19 adopted by the Presidents of the three Institutions on 14 
December 2017. 

This  report  is  the  second  of  its  kind  and  closely  follows  the  comprehensive  assessment 
carried  out  in  the  run-up  to  the  proposed  revision  of  the  current  ECI  Regulation.  It 
therefore builds on this recent exercise and includes further details and factual information 
on the implementation and functioning of the European Citizens' Initiative.  

The  following  section  provides  a  state-of-play  of  the  ECI  procedure,  which  includes  a 
brief analysis of the main problems ECI stakeholders are confronted with. As appropriate, 
it  refers  to  some  of  the  improvements  already  introduced  or  to  those  proposed  by  the 
Commission in its proposal for a new Regulation.  

OVERVIEW OF INITIATIVES 

The  lifecycle  of  a  citizens'  initiative  is  based  on  rules  and  procedures  set  out  in  the 
Regulation.  An  initiative  needs  to  be  launched  by  a  citizens'  committee  and  is  then 
registered  by  the  Commission  provided  that  the  conditions  for  admissibility  are  met,  in 
particular  the  fact  that  the  initiative  does  not  manifestly  fall  outside  the  Commission's 
powers. This becomes the trigger point for the collection of statements of support. If the 
verification  of  statements  of  support  by  Member  States'  competent  authorities  confirms 
that  the  minimum  number  of  signatories  has  been  reached,  organisers  submit  their 
initiative to the Commission, which has three months to reply. This phase also includes a 
meeting with the Commission and a public hearing organised at the European Parliament. 

Since the previous report on the application of the ECI in March 2015, the Commission 
has received 17 requests for registration of proposed citizens' initiatives, out of which 15 
were accepted and 2 refused. Additionally, two initiatives whose registration had initially 
been refused in the previous three-year period were registered by the Commission further 
to Court decisions (see below). 

The  table  below  provides  an  overview  of  the  number  of  all  proposed  citizens'  initiatives 
registered  and  requests  for  registration  refused  since  the  entry  into  application  of  the 
Regulation in April 2012. 

04/2012-03/2015 

04/2015-03/2018 

Total initiatives 
registered 

Total requests for 
registration 
refused 

31 

20 

17 

2 

3 

Total since 
04/2012 

48 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECI PROCEDURE 

Citizens’ committee 

A  prior  condition  to  the  launch  of  a  citizens'  initiative  is  the  setting-up  of  a  citizens' 
committee  of  at  least  seven  EU  citizens  residing  in  seven  different  Member  States  who 
must be of the age to vote in European Parliament elections. Whilst there is no limit to the 
number  of  citizens  on  the  committee,  only  those  seven  members  are  formally  registered 
by the Commission.  

Statistics on members of citizens’ committees for initiatives registered since April 2015: 

-  Residence and nationality of committee members 

Residence

Nationality

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

T
A

E
B

G
B

Y
C

Z
C

E
D

K
D

E
E

L
E

S
E

I
F

R
F

R
H

U I
E
H

T
I

T
L

U
L

V
L

T
M

L
N

L
P

T
P

O
R

I

E S
S

K
S

K
U

-  Age of committee members (at the time of registration) 

Age distribution 

above 80

71-80

61-70

51-60

41-50

31-40

21-30

below 20

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Registration of initiatives 

Before  starting  to  collect  statements  of  support,  the  organisers  need  to  register  their 
initiative with the Commission, which checks at that stage in particular that the citizens' 
committee  complies  with  the  requirements  described  above.  It  also  checks  that  the 
proposed  initiative  does  not  fall  manifestly  outside  the  Commission  powers  to  submit  a 
proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties, and that 
it is not manifestly abusive, frivolous and vexatious, as well as not manifestly contrary to 
the Union’s values.  

The  Commission  has  two  months  to  verify  that  the  conditions  stated  in  Art.  4(2)  of  the 
ECI Regulation are met.  

The  previous  report  already  emphasised  the  challenge  the  registration  procedure 
represented  for  organisers,  in  particular  in  relation  to  the  scope  of  the  Commission 
powers.  Improvements  were  subsequently  introduced  at  two  levels.  Since  2015,  the 
College  of  Commissioners  adopts  the  decisions  on  the  registration  of  the  proposed 
citizens'  initiatives,  demonstrating  the  importance  given  by  the  Commission  to  the  ECI 
and  to  the  priority  of  listening  to  citizens  and  their  concerns.  The  publication  of  press 
releases by the Commission has also reinforced the visibility of registrations.  

In addition, the Commission has introduced the practice of registering initiatives partially 
where  appropriate.  In  those  cases,  the  Commission  adopted  a  decision  setting  out  the 
conditions  of  the  registration,  including  specifying  the  elements  registered  by  the 
Commission  and  the  basis  on  which  statements  of  support  for  the  initiative  may  be 
collected. 

As  a  result,  since  2015  only  two  proposed  initiatives  did  not  fulfil  the  registration 
requirements  and  therefore  could  not  be  registered  by  the  Commission  (‘Stop  Brexit’; 
‘British friends - stay with us in EU’).  

Since the entry into application of the Regulation in 2012,  six citizens' committees have 
brought proceedings before the General Court against Commission decisions refusing the 
registration  of  their  proposed  initiatives8.  While  the  proceedings  before  the  Court  have 
continued during the reporting period, all these actions concern decisions adopted in the 
period 2012-2014.  

The  General  Court  confirmed  the  refusal  decisions  in  four  cases9.  Two  of  these  four 
General Court judgements have been appealed before the Court of Justice of the EU. On 
12  September  2017,  the  Court  of  Justice  dismissed  the  appeal  in  the  first  of  these  cases 

8 Cases T-754/14, T-361/14, T-44/14, T-529/13, T-450/12, T-646/13   

9 Cases T-450/12, T 44/14, T 529/13, T 361/14 

5 

 
 
                                                 
and confirmed the judgement of the General Court and the Commission decision refusing 
to register the proposed initiative10.  

In  two  other  cases,  the  Commission  has  registered  the  initiatives  to  comply  with 
judgements, which the General Court of the EU made in 201711 (‘Stop TTIP’; ‘Minority 
SafePack’).  An  action  for  annulment  was  then  introduced  against  the  Commission 
decision of March 2017 to register the proposed initiative ‘Minority SafePack’12. 

The  Commission  proposal  for  a  new  Regulation  aims  to  improve  the  registration 
procedure,  including  the  possibility  of  providing  (preliminary)  information  to  the 
organisers  if  the  initiative  falls  outside  of  the  Commission's  powers.  It  also  clarifies  the 
conditions for partial registration of initiatives; i.e. where only part of the initiative is not 
manifestly outside of the Commission powers to submit a proposal for a legal act for the 
purpose of implementing the Treaties. 

Collection of statements of support 

The  ECI  Regulation  provides  that  support  for  a  citizens'  initiative  can  only  be  given  by 
citizens of the Union who have reached voting age in the European Parliament elections, 
which is 18 years old everywhere in the EU with the exception of Austria where it is set at 
16. 

The organisers have 12 months maximum to collect statements of support either in paper 
form or online using forms compliant with the models in Annex III to the Regulation.  

Regarding the collection of statements of support for the latest initiative to reach the one-
million  threshold,  ‘Ban  glyphosate  and  protect  people  and  the  environment  from  toxic 
pesticides’, around 21% were collected on paper and around 79% online13.  

Data requirements 

Signatories must fulfil the requirement of a link of nationality or residence with a given 
Member State  and  provide personal data for verification  by competent authorities in the 
Member States. These requirements vary from one Member State to another.  

The Commission can modify the signatories' data requirements set out in Annex III by a 
delegated  act  at  the  request  of  Member  States.  After  a  first  modification  in  2013 
concerning 6 Member States, a second modification in 2015 simplified the requirements 
for 3 other Member States.  

10 Cases C-589/15, C-420/16 

11 Cases T-646/13, T-754/14 

12 Case T-391/17 

13  Figures  related  to  the  collection  of  statements  of  support  are  only  available  for  the  submitted  initiatives  as 
these are the only official figures available to the Commission and the Member States.  

6 

 
 
                                                 
These divergences in data requirements for citizens’ support have impacted negatively on 
the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  the  citizens’  initiative:  i.a.  some  EU  citizens  are 
prevented  from  providing  support;  in  some  countries  a  high  amount  of  personal  data  is 
required or the types of data required may be considered sensitive to provide and therefore 
may  deter  citizens  from  giving  their  support;  as  many  as  13  forms  are  currently  in  use 
requesting  different  sets  of  personal  data  which  makes  the  collection  of  statements  of 
support a highly cumbersome exercise, in particular in paper form; etc. 

These outstanding issues are addressed as a priority by the proposal adopted in September 
2017  and  are  described  extensively  in  the  staff  working  document  accompanying  the 
proposal.  

Online collection 

The online collection of statements of support from signatories is one of the strengths of 
the  instrument  and  often  an  indispensable  part  of  the  organisers’  toolbox.  It  can 
nevertheless be a significant challenge for organisers.  

In  order  to  collect  statements  of  support  online,  they  currently  have  to  build  their  own 
system  (including  software  and  hosting  server)  and  have  it  certified  by  a  competent 
authority in the Member State where the data will be stored. Technical specifications for 
online  collection  systems  are  set  out  in  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  No 
1179/2011  of  17  November  2011  to  implement  the  requirements  set  out  in  the  ECI 
Regulation (Art. 6).  

The  collection  systems  must  also  have  the  necessary  technical  and  security  features  to 
protect the personal data of signatories.  

The  Commission  has  provided  extensive  assistance  for  the  online  collection  element  of 
the  ECI.  In  accordance  with  the  Regulation,  the  Commission  made  available  an  open 
source  software  free  of  charge  in  December  2011,  which  organisers  can  use  with  or 
without modifications. They are, however, free to use another software of their choice.  

Identifying  a  hosting  server  to  install  the  software  has  represented  a  recurrent  challenge 
for organisers, in terms of costs but above all in terms of organisation, causing  delays in 
the launch of their online collection. In 2012, the Commission decided to offer organisers 
the  hosting  of  their  online  collection  systems  on  its  own  servers,  free  of  charge  and 
beyond its obligations under the current Regulation.  

The  software  developed  by  the  Commission  provides  a  set  of  functionalities  to  collect 
statements of support online, to store signatories' data securely and to export the data for 
their subsequent submission to the competent national authorities in the Member States.  

The  software  has  been  regularly  upgraded  to  keep  it  up-to-date  and  make  it  more  user-
friendly.  It  includes  the  possibility  of  collecting  statements  of  support  using  mobile 
devices such as smartphones or tablets as well as establishing links with social media and 

7 

 
 
websites for campaign purposes. Additional improvements have been designed for people 
with disabilities14.  

Since April 2015, twelve initiatives have used the Commission software, ten of which also 
used the Commission's hosting service.  

No use of the 'advanced electronic signature' as per Art. 5(2) has been reported to date. 

Timeline for collection 

Organisers  have  one  year  to  collect  statements  of  support  from  the  date  on  which  the 
Commission  registers  their  initiative.  In  practice,  organisers  frequently  have  less  than  one 
year  for  collection  given  the  logistical  requirements  to  initiate  the  collection.  Many 
organisers  for  instance  do  not  start  preparations  for  the  collection  before  they  receive 
confirmation that their initiative will be registered, even though the Regulation allows them 
to  request  the  relevant  Member  State  to  certify  their  online  collection  systems  before  the 
registration of the initiative. Experience shows that the result of the collection process is to a 
significant extent also influenced by the level and quality of organisation of the campaign15.  

A complaint was filed with the Ombudsman by the organisers of the initiative ‘Mum, Dad 
and  Kids’  as  regards  the  Commission’s  legal  interpretation  of  the  12-month  collection 
period.  The  Ombudsman  found  that,  as  the  law  stands  at  present,  the  Commission  was 
justified in considering that the collection of statements of support begins on the date of 
registration of the proposed initiative16.  

To address the issues referred to above, the proposal for a revised ECI regulation includes a 
number of improvements ranging from a more flexible timeline, in particular the possibility 
for organisers to choose the start date for the collection period up to three months after the 
registration date, in addition to providing for a central online collection system, which the 
Commission will set up and manage free of charge as an alternative to individual systems. 

Verification of statements of support and submission to the Commission 

Once  the  organisers  have  collected  the  required  number  of  statements  of  support  (one 
million overall and minimum thresholds to be reached in at least 7 countries), they submit 
them  to  the  competent  national  authorities  who  have  3  months  to  verify  and  certify  the 
number of valid statements of support.  

14 A study was carried out in 2013 to spot any elements that would not follow best practice for accessibility. In 
the  implementation  of  the  new  user  experience  design  implemented  in  2017,  the  use  of  best  practices  on 
accessibility  has  been  included  in  relation  to  the  front-end  of  the  application.  Further  work  on  accessibility  is 
underway. 

15  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  ‘Ban  glyphosate  and  protect  people  and  the  environment  from  toxic  pesticides’ 
initiative managed to collect the required number of statements of support in only approximately 5 months.  

16 Decision in case 1086/2017/PMC. 

8 

 
 
                                                 
If  it  is  confirmed  that  the  minimum  number  of  signatories  has  been  reached,  organisers 
submit their initiative to the Commission. Three initiatives were successfully submitted to 
the  Commission  by  March  2015  (as  described  in  the  previous  report),  and  an  additional 
one,  ‘Ban  glyphosate  and  protect  people  and  the  environment  from  toxic  pesticides’, 
followed in on 6 October 2017. 

All Member States' authorities have been requested to verify statements of support for the 
initiative ‘Ban glyphosate and protect people and the environment from toxic pesticides’. 
For this initiative, more than 87% of the statements of support collected were found to be 
valid by the competent authorities. Only two authorities obtained results below 75%.  

Verification  by  use  of  random  sampling  was  carried  out  in  12  Member  States  (among 
them, two for the statements of support collected on paper and one for the statements of 
support collected online). No significant discrepancies in the results as regards the validity 
of the statements of support could be observed between the Member States using random 
sampling and the ones verifying all statements of support. 

The fourth initiative ‘Ban glyphosate and protect people and the environment from toxic 
pesticides’ gathered the support of 1,070,865 signatories17.  

The  Member  States  for  which  all  four  successful  ECIs  managed  to  reach  the  threshold 
were Germany, Spain and Italy. 

Total (cumulative) number of signatories per country for the four successful initiatives: 

AT 

BE 

BG 

HR 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

132,923 

102,095 

15,462 

14,273 

10,147 

33,019* 

29,610* 

6,023* 

32,100 

220,463* 

DE 

EL 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LV 

LT 

LU 

MT 

NL 

2,202,500 

89,243 

97,026 

23,822 

1,450,862 

13,889 

30,286 

18,034 

26,899 

98,403 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SK 

SI 

ES 

SE 

UK 

285,857 

98,823*  116,907*  67,211* 

43,272 

322,429 

33,831 

147,376* 

* Total number of statements of support including from certificates received after the date 
of submission of the initiative concerned to the Commission 
The provisions on the verification of statements of support were designed to leave some 
flexibility  for  Member  States  so  that  existing  procedures  at  national  level  for  similar 
instruments could be used, therefore limiting the administrative burden. This has led to a 
situation  where  the  scope  of  the  data  requested  to  signatories  and  of  the  verification 
process  differs  from  one  Member  State  to  the  other.  However,  the  recent  study  on  data 
requirements  has  concluded  that  the  current  verification  approach  as  foreseen  in  the 
Regulation  is  well  designed  compared  to  similar  instruments  at  regional  and  national 
levels. No instance of significant fraud has so far been reported either.  

17  The  distribution  of  signatories  per  country  can  be  consulted  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-
initiative/public/initiatives/successful/details/2017/000002.   

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  the  lack  of  a  time  limit  for  the  submission  of  a  successful 
initiative  to  the  Commission  may  create  confusion  and  uncertainty  for  citizens  who 
provided  their  support,  but  also  for  EU  institutions,  as  to  the  follow-up  of  successful 
initiatives.  The  Commission  proposal  addresses  this  issue  by  setting  a  deadline  for  the 
submission of an initiative. 

Examination and follow-up by the Commission 

During this phase, the organisers are invited to meet the Commission and a public hearing 
is  organised  at  the  European  Parliament.  The  outcome  of  this  three-month  examination 
phase is the adoption of a Communication, in which the Commission explains the actions 
it intends to take, if any, and its reasons (Art. 10). 

The  ‘Ban  glyphosate  and  protect  people  and  the  environment  from  toxic  pesticides’ 
initiative  called  on  the  European  Commission  'to  propose  to  member  states  a  ban  on 
glyphosate,  to  reform  the  pesticide  approval  procedure,  and  to  set  EU-wide  mandatory 
reduction  targets  for  pesticide  use'.  The  Commission  received  representatives  of  the 
organisers on 23 October 2017 and was represented by First Vice-President Timmermans 
and the Commissioner for health and food safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis. A public hearing 
was  held  at  the  European  Parliament  on  20  November  2017,  in  which  Commissioner 
Andriukaitis participated. 

The Commission adopted a Communication on 12 December 2017 setting out the actions 
it  intends  to  take.  While  the  Commission  will  not  adopt  a  proposal  to  ban  glyphosate-
based herbicides as the decision to renew the approval of glyphosate for 5 years is fully 
justified on both scientific and legal grounds, it will present a legislative proposal by May 
2018,  notably  with  a  view  to  improving  transparency  in  scientific  assessments  and 
decision-making.  The  Commission  will  also  strengthen  efforts  for  the  continuous  and 
measurable reduction of risk from pesticide use. 

The  following  is  an  update  on  the  initiatives  submitted  to  the  Commission  before  the 
adoption of the previous report on the European Citizens’ Initiative on 31 March 2015. 

The  ‘Stop  vivisection’  initiative  (which  was  submitted  to  the  Commission  on  3rd  March 
2015)  called  on  the  Commission  'to  abrogate directive  2010/63/EU  on  the  protection  of 
animals used for scientific purposes and to present a new proposal that does away with 
animal  experimentation  and  instead  makes  compulsory  the  use  -  in  biomedical  and 
toxicological research - of data directly relevant for the human species'. A meeting was 
organised on 11 May 2015; the Commission was represented by Vice-President Katainen 
and  senior  officials  from  the  departments  concerned.  A  public  hearing  was  organised  at 
the  European  Parliament  on  the same  day,  during  which, and  for  the first  time,  external 
experts were invited to take the floor. The Commission was represented by Vice-President 
Katainen. 

The Commission adopted a Communication on 3rd June 2015 announcing actions in four 
directions; i.e. accelerating progress in the Three Rs (to replace, reduce and refine animal 

10 

 
 
use) through knowledge sharing; developing, validating and implementing new alternative 
approaches  to  animal  testing;  enforcing  compliance  with  the  Three  Rs  principle  and 
aligning relevant sector legislation; engaging in a dialogue with the scientific community. 

The Commission organised a scientific conference in Brussels on 6-7 December 2016 to 
take stock of the progress in the follow-up actions to the initiative and to discuss how to 
exploit  cutting-edge  advances  in  biomedical  and  other  research  in  the  development  of 
scientifically valid non-animal approaches18.  

It is also to be noted that following a complaint by the organisers of the ‘Stop vivisection’ 
initiative  to  the  Ombudsman,  a  decision  concluded  that  there  was  no  maladministration 
from the Commission in the handling of this initiative (April 2017)19. 

Regarding the ‘One of us’ initiative to which the Commission answered that it considered 
that the existing legal framework was appropriate, its organisers have brought proceedings 
before the General Court of the EU for the annulment of the Commission communication 
adopted in response to the initiative. The procedure before the General Court is pending 20.  

Concerning the initiative ‘Water and sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good, 
not a commodity!’ several follow-up actions have been implemented since the adoption of 
the  Commission  Communication  in  March  201421.  Of  particular  note  is  the  initiative's 
contribution towards maintaining ‘water and sanitation’ as a key priority area for the post-
2015  EU  development  framework22  and  subsequently  in  the  list  of  Sustainable 
Development Goals in the United Nations ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’23. 
In addition, the Commission adopted a proposal for a revised directive on drinking water 
on 1st February 201824 which, in response to the initiative, foresees inter alia an obligation 
for  Member  States  to  ensure  that  vulnerable  and  marginalised  groups  have  access  to 
water. The European Pillar of Social Rights proclaimed by the European Parliament, the 
Council  and  the  Commission  on  17  November  201725  also  includes  the  principle  that 
everyone  has  the  right  to  access  essential  services  of  good  quality,  including  water  and 
sanitation (principle 20 - Access to essential services). 

18 Further details on follow-up actions are available on the dedicated page of the ECI register. 

19 Case 1609/2016/JAS. 

20 Case T-561/14.  

21 See the relevant follow-up page of the ECI register. 

22 Communication ‘A Decent life for all: from vision to collective action’ of 2 June 2014, COM(2014) 335. 

23 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld. 

24 COM(2017) 753 – 01.02.2018 

25 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/social-summit-european-pillar-social-rights-
booklet_en.pdf  

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In the proposal to revise the Citizens' Initiative Regulation, the Commission has included 
a  number  of  improvements,  in  particular  the  transmission  of  the  initiative,  when  it  is 
received,  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  Regions,  a  more  inclusive  public  hearing  at  the 
European  Parliament  to  ensure  balanced  representation  of  all  stakeholders  concerned  by 
the initiative, and extension of the examination phase from three to five months to allow 
more time for debate and allow it to feed into the Commission's response. 

Transparency - funding 

In accordance with Art. 9, organisers have to provide information on sources of funding 
exceeding EUR 500 per year and per sponsor. This information is published on the ECI 
register. 

Overview of sponsorships for the initiatives registered since April 2015:  

NO FUNDING 
SOURCES 

TOTAL AMOUNT OF 

TOTAL AMOUNT OF 

FUNDING BELOW 
EUR 10,000 

FUNDING ABOVE 
EUR 10,000 

Number of initiatives 

8 

2 

7 

The  declared  support  and  funding  for  the  ‘Ban  glyphosate  and  protect  people  and  the 
environment  from  toxic  pesticides’  initiative  amounts  to  EUR  328,399,  which  is  the 
highest amount to date for a successful citizens’ initiative. 

Support and awareness-raising 

Contact point: 

In accordance with Art. 4(1), a point of contact is available, which is hosted by the Europe 
Direct  Contact  Centre.  Since  April  2015,  the  contact  point  has  treated  257  requests  for 
information from citizens.  

12 

 
 
 
 
15 

20 

4 

17 

75 

18 

General or procedural questions or comments

Questions from (potential) signatories (e.g.
how to sign up in paper form/online, how to
verify whether they already gave support,
concerns about site security)
Questions on specific initiatives (e.g. their
status, the number of signatories, comments
for or against)

108 

Questions on IT tools (software and register)
and set-up of online collection systems

Scope of the instrument (e.g. possible types of
requests via the ECI, questions on EU
competences)

Questions/complaints from citizens unable to
give support (e.g. excluded by the Regulation
or not holding a valid required ID)

Questions on communication (journalists,
students, reuse of information and copyright)

The questions are re-directed to the Commission when the Europe Direct Contact Centre 
cannot reply directly, for example when the questions relate to whether or not a possible 
initiative complies with the registration criteria, to which replies of an informal nature are 
provided, without prejudice to any formal reply by the Commission following a possible 
request  for  registration.  Since  April  2015,  66  questions  have  been  re-directed  to  the 
Commission. 

Organiser account: 

Once  an  initiative  is  formally  registered,  the  Commission  answers  organisers’  questions 
directly  via  their  dedicated  account  on  the  ECI  website.  Answers  are  also  provided  by 
email and phone on an on-going basis.  

IT support: 

Support  from  the  Commission  is  offered  regarding  the  use  of  its  online  collection 
software,  as  well  as  the  hosting  of  online  collection  systems  on  its  servers:  almost  300 
requests have been treated on these aspects over the past three years. Assistance has also 
been  provided  using  the  Joinup  platform,  which  enables  stakeholders  to  access 
information on latest developments. 

13 

 
 
 
Support to translation: 

Translation  of  initiatives  is  the  responsibility  of  organisers  and  has  been  a  cumbersome 
process since the beginning. Since 2015, support offered by the European Economic and 
Social  Committee  to  organisers  on  translations  has  been  welcome,  and  has  significantly 
contributed to improve the situation. As specified in its proposal for a new Regulation, the 
Commission  intends  itself  to  translate  the  content  of  initiatives,  and  has  already  started 
providing those translations to organisers as of 2018.  

Other: 

Another important new element of the proposal is the creation of an online collaborative 
platform to support the exchange of good practice between ECI practitioners, in particular 
via a discussion forum and other support and training tools and mechanisms. Within the 
framework  of  a  pilot  project  of  the  European  Parliament,  the  Commission  has  already 
initiated  the  setting-up  of  such  a  platform,  which  is  to  be  tested  and  further  developed 
until  a  fully-developed  version  is  made  available  under  the  new  Regulation.  The  first 
version of the platform is planned to go public in April 2018.  

The  launch  of  the  collaborative  platform  will  also  coincide  with  the  start  of  a 
communication campaign on the citizens’ initiative more generally, which will include the 
use of targeted tools and products to support the visibility of the instrument, promotion via 
social media targeting the general public, as well as the organisation of events in Member 
States focusing on potential multipliers.  

CONCLUSION 

Drawing  on  the  inputs  of  EU  institutions,  bodies  and  stakeholders,  the  Commission  has 
thoroughly  assessed  the  remaining  bottlenecks  and  addressed  them  in  its  proposal  for  a 
Regulation of 13 September 2017. The revision will bring wide-ranging simplification and 
improvements for citizens and organisers in all the successive steps of the ECI lifecycle. It 
will help achieve the full potential of the ECI as an instrument to foster debate and citizen 
participation  at  European  level  and  bring  the  EU  closer  to  its  citizens,  in  line  with  the 
Commission’s priority 10 (‘A Union of Democratic Change’). 

The  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  are  currently  discussing  the  proposal  and  the 
three institutions have undertaken in their Joint Declaration to give it priority treatment in 
the legislative process to ensure substantial progress and, where possible, delivery before 
the European elections of 2019. The Commission calls for its adoption by the end of 2018 
so that it can enter into force in January 2020 and deliver its significant benefits for EU 
democracy and citizen participation as early as possible. 

In the meantime, the Commission continues to work to improve the operation of the ECI 
within  the  existing  legal  framework.  A  first  version  of  the  online  collaborative  platform 

14 

 
 
 
 
will be launched in April 2018, and the Commission will increase its communication and 
awareness-raising  activities  on  the  ECI  instrument  through  a  communication  campaign 
starting in 2018. 

The  Commission  will  continue  to  follow  up  on  successful  initiatives  wherever 
appropriate, and will be open about its detailed reasons where that is not the case, in line 
with  its  10  political  priorities.  The  Commission  has  committed  to  follow  up  actions  in 
three of the four successful initiatives and has announced or adopted legislative proposals 
for two of them.  

The  ECI  instrument,  as  shown  by  the  9  million  statements  of  support  collected  by  the 
various initiatives so far, fosters citizen participation across the continent and contributes 
to the emergence of pan-European debates and involvement in the democratic life of the 
EU. By involving citizens directly and allowing them to put forward their ideas on issues 
that matter to them, the ECI adds value to the EU law-making process and contributes to 
bringing citizens closer to the Union. 

15