REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of Regulation (EU) 2019/788 on the European citizens’ initiative
Date: 2023-12-06
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU initiative, European citizenship, data collection, data protection, participatory democracy, personal data, petition, power of initiative

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.12.2023  COM(2023) 787 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of Regulation (EU) 2019/788 on the European citizens’ initiative    
 
 
Report on the application of Regulation (EU) 2019/788  

on the European citizens’ initiative 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

On 1 January 2020, Regulation (EU) 2019/788 on the European citizens’ initiative (1) (the ECI 
Regulation)  entered  into  application.  This  second  ECI  Regulation  followed  an  extensive 
legislative reform that addressed the shortcomings in the application of the first ECI Regulation 
(Regulation (EU) No 211/2011(2)).  The  revised  rules  aim  ‘to  make  the  European  citizens’ 
initiative more accessible, less burdensome and easier to use for organisers and supporters, and 
to strengthen its follow-up in order to achieve its full potential as a tool to foster debate’ (3).  

Article 25  of  the  ECI  Regulation  requires  the  Commission  to  periodically  review  the 
functioning  of  the  European  citizens’  initiative  (the  ECI)  and  to  report  to  the  European 
Parliament and the Council on the application of the ECI Regulation no later than 1 January 
2024 and every 4 years thereafter. This report assesses the application of the ECI Regulation 
and  the  functioning  of  the  ECI  instrument  since  1 January 2020.  It  outlines  the  actions  the 
Commission intends to take to further improve the implementation of the ECI Regulation and 
the  functioning  of  the  ECI,  taking  into  account  the  review’s  findings  and  calls  from 
stakeholders. This report also addresses various issues included in the European Parliament’s 
resolution of 13 June 2023 on the implementation of the Regulations on the European citizens’ 
initiative  (4)  and  complements  the  Commission’s  reply  to  the  European  Parliament’s 
resolution (5). 

In  order  to  assess  the  effectiveness  of  the  revised  rules,  the  Commission  has  carried  out  a 
number of consultations to serve as an evidence-base for this report (6): consultations with ECI 
organisers (an online survey and interviews) (7); an online survey of Member State authorities 
with responsibilities related to the implementation of the ECI Regulation (8); an online survey 
targeting  citizens (9);  and  an  exit  survey targeting  ECI  signatories  that  have  used  the 
Commission’s central online collection system (10). In the review process, the Commission has 

(1)  Regulation (EU) 2019/788 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the European citizens' 

initiative (OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 55). 

(2)   Regulation  (EU)  No 211/2011  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16 February  2011  on  the  citizens’ 

initiative (OJ L 65, 11.3.2011, p. 1). 

(3)   Recital 5, Regulation (EU) 2019/788. 

(4)   https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0230_EN.html  

(5)  https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/spdoc.do?i=60031&j=0&l=en   

(6)   The  reports  of  the  various  consultation  activities  are  published  on  the  ECI  review  webpage:  https://citizens-

initiative.europa.eu/2023-eci-review_en.  

(7)  The online survey complemented with additional interviews resulted in 34 replies from representatives of ECIs.  

(8)   25 Member States replied to the survey. 

(9)  Generating 7 271 replies. 

(10)  Generating 60 157 replies. An exit survey is a survey showed to visitors of a website when they are about to leave the 

website.   

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focused on ECIs  registered since 1 January 2020 and on ECIs registered under the first ECI 
Regulation that were still ongoing on 1 January 2020 at various stages of the ECI procedure. 

2.  OVERVIEW OF THE REPORTING PERIOD 

While  the  revised  rules  had  just  started  to  apply  when  it  began,  the  COVID-19  pandemic 
significantly  disrupted  the  ability  of  ECIs  that  were  running  at  the  time  to  carry  out  their 
campaigns across the EU. Table 1 shows the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on 
the ECI. In 2020, when the revised rules started to apply, registration was requested for only 
five new ECIs. The temporary measures (11) proposed by the Commission and adopted by the 
co-legislators on  15 July 2020  limited the impact  of the pandemic on  ECIs. Once the health 
situation  improved,  some  positive  developments  could  already  be  noted,  with  an  increasing 
number of requests for registration and record numbers of  ECIs collecting at least 1 million 
signatures and, correspondingly, a record number of Commission replies to ECIs.  

Table 1: overview of ECIs in the reporting period 

2020  2021 

2022  2023  TOTAL 2020-2023 

Requests to register 

Registered ECIs 

Refused ECIs (13) 

Withdrawn  after  Commission  initial 
assessment 

Valid and submitted 

Verification  completed  successfully, 
not yet submitted to the Commission 

5 

5 

2 

11 

10 

11 

11 

1 

13 

11 

1 

1  

3  

Answered 

2 

4 

40 

37 (12) 

1 

1 

6 

2 (14) 

6 (15) 

In the reporting period, citizens and society could benefit from the positive impacts of previous 
successful  ECIs.  As  a  concrete  follow-up  to  the  first  successful  ECI  (‘Right2Water’),  the 

(11)   Regulation  (EU)  2020/1042  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15  July  2020  laying  down  temporary 
measures  concerning  the  time  limits  for  the  collection,  the  verification  and  the  examination  stages  provided  for  in 
Regulation (EU) 2019/788 on the European citizens’ initiative in view of the COVID-19 outbreak (OJ L 231, 17.7.2020, 
p. 7–11). 

(12)  Three requests are under legal assessment. 

(13)   ‘Eve Initiative for the Establishment of the Right to Decide’. 

(14)  The ECIs ‘Stop extremism’ (verified before 2020) and ‘Cohesion policy’. 

(15)  The reply to the ‘Fur Free Europe’ ECI will be adopted by 14 December 2023. 

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revised  Drinking  Water  Directive (16),  which  had  to  be  transposed  by  Member  States  into 
national  law  by  12 January 2023,  is  improving  access  to  water  including  for  vulnerable  and 
marginalised groups. In response to the successful ‘Ban Glyphosate’ ECI, the Regulation on 
the transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain (17) entered into 
application on 27 March 2021 and gives citizens automatic access to all studies and information 
submitted by the industry in the risk assessment process. 

The second ECI Regulation was accompanied by the introduction of a new generation of IT 
systems  to  support  the  functioning  of  the  ECI:  the  central  online  collection  system,  the  file 
exchange  service  (18),  the  revamped  ECI  Forum  and  the  new  ECI  register  and  public 
website (19). Over the course of the reporting period, these systems were further improved in 
consultation with users and stakeholders. As decided by the co-legislators as part of the ECI 
reform, the individual online collection systems – which had been in use while a fully-fledged 
central system was not available – were gradually phased out (20).  

3.  ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLICATION OF THE ECI REGULATION 

3.1.  The ECI process in a nutshell 

The  ECI  process  involves  several  steps.  In  order  to  launch  a  citizens'  initiative,  a  ‘group  of 
organisers’ must be set up. Before organisers can start to collect statements of support from 
citizens, the proposed initiative must be submitted to the Commission to assess if the conditions 
for registration are fulfilled. Once registration is confirmed, organisers have 6 months to start 
the collection of signatures. They need to collect 1 million signatures within12 months and to 
reach the required thresholds in at least 7 Member States. After having the collected signatures 
verified by national authorities and having received the confirmation that the thresholds were 
met,  the  ECI  organisers  can  submit  their  initiative  to  the  Commission  for  examination  and 
official reply.  

3.2.  Right to support an ECI  

Minimum age to support ECIs 

Before 1 January 2020, the support age for ECIs was below 18 in three Member States in line 
with  the  voting  age  for  European  Parliament  elections  (16  in  Austria  and  Malta,  and  17  in 
Greece). In order to enhance the participation of young citizens in the democratic life of the 
European Union, the ECI  Regulation  allows Members States to  lower the minimum  age for 
supporting ECIs to 16 in accordance with national laws. Since the introduction of this provision, 

(16)   Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water 

intended for human consumption (recast) (OJ L 435, 23.12.2020, p. 1 - 62). 

(17)  Regulation  (EU) 2019/1381  of  the  European Parliament  and  of  the  Council of 20  June 2019 on  the  transparency  and 

sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain (OJ L 231, 6.9.2019, p. 1–28).  

(18)  The file exchange service facilitates the secure transfer of statements of support to national authorities. 

(19)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/_en 

(20)   In practice one such system has been used by ECIs, the OpenECI software offered by civil society organisations. The last 

ECI using this system ended its collection period on 19 July 2023. 

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the minimum support age applicable to ECIs has been lowered to 16 in three Member States: 
Estonia  (as  of  1 January 2020),  Germany  (as  of  1 January 2023)  and  Belgium  (as  of 
1 May 2023), meaning that there are now six Member States where the minimum support age 
is lower than 18. In addition, Finland has indicated plans to lower the minimum support age to 
16 and Ireland has announced plans to examine the lowering of the minimum voting age. Table 
2 provides an overview of the minimum age for supporting ECIs in the 27 EU Member States.  

Table 2: minimum age to support an ECI – state of play (June 2023) 

18 years old 

BG, CZ, DK, IE, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, NL, PL, PT, 
RO, SI, SK, FI, SE 

17 years old 

EL 

16 years old 

BE, DE, EE, MT, AT  

In their feedback, 15 Member States reported that they were not currently envisaging lowering 
the  minimum  support  age  to  16  and  no  decision  had  been  taken  in  another  three  (Latvia, 
Slovenia and Slovakia). 

75% of ECI organisers surveyed (21) considered that reducing the minimum support age to 16 
in all Member States is important for the success of ECIs. However, citizens participating in 
the  online  survey  had  divided  opinions  on  this  point:  52%  were  in  favour  of  lowering  the 
minimum support age to 16 but 46% considered 18 to be the appropriate minimum support age. 

Group of organisers 

A condition for launching an ECI is to set up a group of organisers comprising at least seven 
EU citizens who must (i) be resident in seven different EU Member States and (ii) be of the age 
of voting in the elections for the European Parliament.  

Chart  1:  distribution  of  organisers  by  nationality  and  residence  (top  three  Member 
States) (22) 

(21) 12 out of the 16 survey respondents. 

(22)  Full list in Chart 4 in the Annex. 

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The  distribution  by  age  groups  (see  Chart  5  in  the  Annex)  shows  a  balanced  representation 
across the different age categories, with a good representation of young people (21% under 30 
years of age and 50% over 40 years of age). 

The new ECI Regulation also allows the setting-up of a legal entity to manage an ECI; however 
only two organisers reported that they had done so and had found it overall useful. Those that 
had not used this possibility mentioned as reasons: the administrative burden, the associated 
costs and the procedural delays in setting up such legal entities. 

3.3.  Registration phase 

The Commission has received 40 requests to register an ECI since the revised rules started to 
apply. During the reporting period, the Commission registered 37 ECIs in line with Article 6(3) 
of the ECI Regulation, also owing to the two-stage procedure (23), which allows organisers to 
revise initiatives that otherwise cannot be registered as these (partially) fall outside the scope 
of  Commission's  powers.  This  procedure  proved  its  usefulness  by  enabling  8  ECIs  to  be 
eventually  fully  registered.  Only  1  request  for  registration  was  ultimately  refused.  Another 
request was withdrawn by its organisers after the initial Commission assessment.  

In order for the registration process to run smoothly within the tight deadlines established in the 
ECI  Regulation,  the  organisers  need  to  submit  comprehensive  evidence  of  fulfilling  the 
administrative requirements as part of their registration request.  

83% of the surveyed organisers (24) to whom the new rules for registration applied reported that 
the  ECI  procedure  for  registration  was  overall  effective  and  straightforward.  Only  one 
respondent found the procedure very difficult to comply with. Most respondents (25) considered 
that  the  requirements  for  registering  an  ECI  are  clear  and  that  the  technical  process  of 
submission  through  the  organiser  account  is  easy.  Most  of  the  respondents  had  found  the 
conditions for registration quite easy to meet, but two of them (17%) considered the conditions 
relatively  difficult  to  meet  –  due  to  the  requirements  for  administrative  checks  related  to 
residence  and  the  need  to  ensure  that  no  part  of  the  ECI  manifestly  falls  outside  the 
Commission's  competences.  The  greatest  challenge  reported  by  organisers  during  the 
registration phase is linked to resources – time and funding. 

The  surveyed  organisers  who  had  gone  through  the  two-stage  procedure  for  registration 
considered the information provided by the Commission in the initial assessment to be clear. 
They used the guidance  offered by the ECI Forum,  which most of them  found essential for 

(23)  Article 6(4) of the ECI Regulation provides that where the conditions for registration of an ECI are met, with the exception 
of the requirement that ‘none of the parts of the initiative manifestly falls outside the Commission’s powers to submit a 
proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties’ (Article 6(3), first subparagraph, point 
(c)), the Commission must inform the organisers of this assessment. The organisers may either amend the initiative to take 
into  account  the  Commission’s  assessment,  maintain,  or  withdraw,  the  initiative.  The  organisers  must  inform  the 
Commission of their choice and submit amendments, if any, to the initial initiative. 

(24)  10 out of 12 replies representing initiatives registered after 1 January 2020. 

(25)  10 out of 12 replies representing initiatives registered after 1 January 2020. 

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ensuring the registration of their ECI. Only in the case of the refused ECI registration did its 
representative report that the reasons for refusal were not fully clear (26). 

3.4.  Collection phase 

On 1 January 2020, 16 ECIs registered under the first ECI Regulation were still in the collection 
phase. Another 33 ECIs registered under the revised ECI Regulation started the collection phase 
during the reporting period. Table 3 provides an overview of ECIs at collection phase. 

In the reporting period, a record number of five ECIs collected over 1 million statements of 
support, out of which three were registered under the second ECI Regulation. Three of the five 
successful initiatives benefited from the COVID-19 temporary measures. In addition, several 
ECIs that did not reach the threshold of 1 million statements of support collected a significant 
number of statements of support, thereby gaining visibility and generating debate across the EU 
or in certain Member States (27). At the same time, 13 ECIs collected low numbers of signatures 
(below 10 000). This can be attributed to several causes that can reinforce one another, such as 
the  public  appeal  and  nature  of  the  topic;  the  level  of  preparation  and  management  of  the 
collection campaign; and the perseverance and dedication that ECI organisers need to maintain 
over a longer period. Some organisers mentioned that ECIs that lack the support of entities such 
as NGOs or businesses find it difficult to collect significant numbers of signatures.  

Table 3: overview of ECIs at collection phase (28) (November 2023) 

ECIs that collected over 1 million valid statements of support since 
1 January 2020 

ECIs withdrawn or closed with insufficient support, grouped by 
number of statements of support collected 

-  At least 1 million signatures 

-  500 000 – 999 999 signatures 

-  250 000 – 499 999 signatures 

-  100 000 – 249 999 signatures 

-  50 000 – 99 999 signatures 

5 

29 

1 (29) 

1 

4  

1 

5 

(26)   The  ECI  Forum  can  support  organisers  during  the  registration  phase  with  legal  advice,  particularly  regarding  the 
Commission competences to adopt legal acts. In the case of the only ECI that was refused, the organisers did not use the 
services of the ECI Forum despite being encouraged to do so. 

(27)   The ‘End the Slaughter Age’ ECI collected over 850 000 statements of support. Four other ECIs (‘Start Unconditional 
Basic  Incomes  (UBI)  throughout  the  EU’,  ‘Ban  Fossil  Fuel  Advertising  and  Sponsorships’,  ‘Ensuring  Common 
Commercial Policy conformity with EU Treaties and compliance with international law’ and ‘Right to Cure’) collected 
between 250 000 and 300 000 statements of support. 

(28)  Based  on  information  reported  by  ECI  organisers  or  publicly  available;  not  all  ECIs  registered  under  the  first  ECI 

Regulation reported the number of statements of support collected as this was not a legal requirement. 

(29)  For the ECI ‘Eat original’, thresholds were not met after Member State verification of the statements of support. 

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-  10 000 – 49 999 signatures 

-  5 000 – 9 999 signatures 

-  Below 5 000 signatures 

Collection ongoing 

ECIs to start collection 

4 

4 

9 

10 

4 

Overall, since 2020, over 9 million statements of support have been collected. Over 90% of 
these signatures were collected online, and the rest were collected on paper. 

The surveyed organisers reported that they were mostly satisfied with the effectiveness of the 
procedures  and  tools  available  for  the  signature-collection  phase.  Most  respondents 
representing ECIs registered under the second ECI Regulation, considered useful the 6 months 
after registration (30) for preparing the collection of signatures.  

Respondents to the survey stated that the following enablers had helped them collect signatures: 
support from NGOs; the use of large signature-collection platforms (e.g. Avaaz, WeMove and 
Campact); the use of influencers; and gaining visibility in various national and EU media. 

The surveyed organisers most often mentioned the following as challenges that they had faced 
during the collection phase: citizens’ reluctance to provide the required personal data; citizens’ 
lack  of  awareness  about  the  ECI;  finding  the  time  to  dedicate  to  the  ECI;  attracting  media 
interest; and finding partners for promoting the ECI in at least seven Member States. 

3.4.1.  Online collection systems 

The organisers of ECIs registered between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022 could opt to 
use either the central online collection system or another online collection system, in line with 
Article 11 of the second ECI Regulation. While a choice was still possible, 20 ECIs chose the 
central online collection system and 6 chose the OpenECI software offered by civil society 
organisations.  

Of  the  5  ECIs  that  collected  over  1  million  statements  of  support  in  this  period,  3  used  the 
central online collection system (31) and 2 used the OpenECI system (32).  

(30)  Article 8(1) of the ECI Regulation allows the organisers to choose the start date of the collection period. The start date 
must be not later than 6 months from the date of registration of the ECI. 

(31)   The ‘Cohesion policy’, ‘Stop finning’ and ‘Save cruelty free cosmetics’ ECIs. 

(32)   The ‘Save bees and farmers!’ and ‘Fur Free Europe’ ECIs. 

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Most  organisers  surveyed (33)  reported  being  satisfied  overall  with  the  system  that  they  had 
chosen to use, although a few others (34) reported lower satisfaction rates.  

3.4.2.  The central online collection system 

In line with Article 10(1) of the second ECI Regulation, the Commission developed the central 
online collection system, which became operational on 1 January 2020. This new fully-fledged 
system  replaced  the  solution  provided  by  the  Commission  before  2020,  which  consisted  of 
software  coupled  with  a  hosting  agreement  for  the  secure  storage  of  the  data  on  the 
Commission’s servers. The new system, which is available in all EU languages, is used free 
of charge by ECI organisers. It is an easy-to-use, turnkey system in which the personal data are 
encrypted once collected and stored – ECI organisers only need to inform the Commission 10 
working days before starting collection (Article 10(3)) and must sign an agreement with the 
Commission regarding the joint responsibility for data protection (35). No additional approvals 
are necessary because the system already complies with all technical and security requirements. 
As provided for in Article 18(2), ECI organisers can also use the system to collect supporters’ 
email addresses and are therefore able to keep their network informed about the progress of 
their ECI. The system is fully accessible to people with disabilities (in line with Articles 2(2) 
and 10(1)).  

Under the first ECI Regulation, the ECI organisers were entirely responsible for the transfer of 
statements of support to the Member States for verification. Under the revised ECI Regulation, 
to ensure the security of citizens’ personal data throughout the entire ECI cycle (from collection 
to the transfer to the Member States), the Commission has developed a file exchange service 
that facilitates  via end-to-end encryption the safe transfer of statements of support collected 
online via the central online collection system to Member State authorities for verification. This 
application can also be used to transfer scanned paper statements. Although the revised rules 
do not require this, the Commission and Member States agreed that this tool could be used also 
by  ECIs  that  were  registered  under  the  old  rules  or  using  individual  systems (36).  The 
Commission  prepared  comprehensive  guidance  and  organised  extensive  testing  with  the 
Member States on the use of the file exchange service and the associated management of the 
private  and  public  keys.  It  also  organised  sessions  with  organisers  to  assist  them  with  the 
process of encrypting and uploading statements of support that have not been collected via the 
central online collection system.  

The high level  of security of the  collection system  ensures that citizens’ personal  data are 
safely  encrypted  and  processed  from  the  moment  they  enter  the  collection  system  until  the 

(33)   4 of the 6 respondents that had used the central online collection system; and 4 of the 7 respondents that had used the 

individual online collection system. 

(34)   2 of the 6 respondents that had used the central online collection system; and 3 of the 7 respondents that had used the 

individual online collection system.  

(35)  According to the Joint Controllership Agreement, the Commission is responsible for personal data collected online through 
the central online collection system, while ECI organisers are only responsible for the protection of personal data collected 
on paper. 

(36)  The tool was used for two ECIs registered under the first ECI Regulation: ‘Save bees and farmers!’ and ‘End the Cage 

Age’. 

8 

 
 
moment  they  reach  Member  States’  authorities  for  verification.  The  Commission  provides 
information and training on the use of the central online collection system (webinars, online 
guides  and  videos).  In  addition,  in  line  with  Article  10(5)  of  the  ECI  Regulation,  the 
Commission regularly consults users and stakeholders on further improvements of this system.  

Some of the main improvements introduced to the central online collection system since 2020 
are: 

•  Security – the system provides an end-to-end encryption of the personal data through all 
stages of processing; overall, the security features are regularly upgraded in line with the 
rules, standards and guidelines developed under  Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 
2017/46  on  the  security  of  communication  and  information  systems  in  the  European 
Commission (37). 

•  The  quality  of  the  data  collected  from  citizens  has  been  improved,  following  the 
implementation  of  formatting  and  ‘checksum’  rules  for  ID  documents  for  the  18 
Member States that require an ID number in the support form, thus lowering the risk of 
rejection  of  statements  of  support  and  facilitating  the  verification  process  of  Member 
States. 
eID integrations - since the launch of the revised rules, national eID schemes have been 
integrated  into  the  central  online  collection  system  for  16  Member  States,  enabling 
citizens  to  sign  without  manually  inputting  their  personal  data.  This  option  was  not 
available in relation to the individual online collection systems. 

• 

•  Usability  improvements  following  a  stakeholder  consultation  and  a  usability  and 
accessibility  study;  in  particular,  the  mobile  version  of  the  central  online  collection 
system has been further improved, making it easier for citizens to sign via their mobile 
devices. 

•  Customisation of the signing page - organisers can decide which information they want 
to be shown on the signing page (their own logo, progress bar with real-time information 
on  the  number  of  statements  of  support  collected  online,  map  indicating  thresholds 
reached per Member State, progress per Member State, and recent supporters – Member 
State and date). 

•  Data  protection  compliance  –  a  dedicated  data  controller  module  allows  the 
Commission  to  comply  with  its  duties  as  data  controller  under  Regulation  (EU) 
2018/1725 on the protection of personal data processed by the Union institutions (38) and 
to swiftly respond to data subjects’ requests. 

•  Provision of web analytics to organisers (data about traffic to their initiative page) and 
other relevant statistics per initiative, allowing them to assess the performance of their 
campaigns. 

(37)  OJ L 006 11.1.12017, p.40. 

(38)  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1725  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  October  2018  on  the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, 
offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and 
Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39–98). 

9 

 
 
Citizens who have used the central online collection system have reported high levels of 
satisfaction with the system: over 93% of the respondents to the exit survey stated that it had 
been easy or very easy to support an  ECI using it; a large majority  of the respondents rated 
highly the clarity of the information  explaining how to sign an ECI using the system; and a 
majority  of  respondents  felt  confident  about  the  security  of  the  personal  data  that  they  had 
provided through the system. Around 8% of users who participated in the exit survey reported 
a relevant disability and their overall satisfaction was also high (with an average score of 8 out 
of 10). 

3.4.3.  Use of eID (Article 10(4) of the ECI Regulation) 

One of the key features of the central online collection system is the possibility of integrating 
within the system the national eID tools that citizens are familiar with at national level, thus 
reducing the risk of errors when they encode personal data. Member States have to ensure that 
their  citizens  can  support  ECIs  online  using  notified  electronic  identification  means  or  an 
electronic signature within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS Regulation) 
(39). 

The integration of national eID schemes into the central online collection system has already 
been completed for 16 Member States. A further 5 Member States are in the process of making 
their national eID schemes available under the eIDAS Regulation (BG, DK, FR, PL and SI), 
the first step for integration with the Commission’s online collection system.  

Table  4:  state  of  play  of  eID  integrations  into  the  central  online  collection  system 
(November 2023) 

Enabling eID 

BE, CZ, DE, EE, ES, HR, IT, LV, LT, LU, MT, NL, AT, PT, SK, SE 

In progress 

BG, DK, FR, PL, SI  

Not enabling eID 

IE, EL, CY, HU, RO, FI  

Both ECI organisers and citizens reported in their respective surveys that they considered it 
important  to  allow  the  use  of  new  solutions  for  electronic  identification,  such  as  eID  and 
electronic signature for supporting ECIs.  

While  still  marginal  (2%  of  the  total  number  of  signatures  collected  via  the  central  online 
collection system since 2020), the proportion of signatures collected via eID is increasing (5% 
in  2023)  as  more  Member  States  have  made  these  means  available  to  their  citizens.  The 

(39)   Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification 
and  trust  services  for  electronic  transactions  in  the  internal  market  and  repealing  Directive  1999.93.EC  (OJ  L  257, 
28.8.2014, p. 73–114). 

10 

 
 
 
 
proposed  introduction  of  European  Digital  Identity  Wallets (40)  is  intended  to  speed  up  the 
adoption of such technologies  in  all Member States and  to  thus  facilitate  citizens’ civic and 
community engagement. In the context of the ECI Expert Group, the Commission also invites 
Member States to report regularly on the progress they have made in implementing eID in their 
country. 

3.4.4.  Certification of individual online collection systems 

The German authority (41) certified the individual online collection systems for the six  ECIs 
that were registered after 1 January 2020 and used such systems. In its feedback, the German 
authority expressed the view that the one-month deadline for the certification of those systems 
is  too  short.  It  also  underlined  that,  compared  with  the  central  online  collection  system,  the 
certification  of  the  individual  collection  systems  required  disproportionate  effort  from  all 
Member States because they each have to conduct the procedures and invest the resources to 
carry out certifications within the deadline. In its feedback, Germany reiterated its support for 
the phasing-out of these systems by 31 December 2022 in accordance with Article 11(7) of the 
ECI Regulation.  

ECI  organisers  taking  part  in  the  online  survey  considered  that  it  was  relatively  difficult  to 
comply  with  the  technical  specifications  to  obtain  certification  of  their  individual  online 
collection system and to have the system certified by national authorities.  

3.4.5.  Assessment of the possibility of reintroducing the option for organisers to 

use individual online collection systems 

In its resolution  on the implementation of the ECI regulations (42), the European Parliament 
called on the Commission to assess the possibility of reintroducing the option for organisers to 
use individual online collection systems.  To assess this option, the Commission looked into 
three areas. 

(i) The use of individual online collection systems 

During the negotiations leading to the adoption of the second ECI Regulation, the co-legislators 
decided to phase out the use of individual online collection systems by the end of 2022. In the 
period between January 2020 and December 2022 (when a choice was still possible), 6 of the 
26 registered ECIs (23%) chose to use the OpenECI system. In the last year when a choice was 
possible (2022), the organisers of only 2 of the 10 registered ECIs chose to use an individual 
online collection system.  These figures provide  a strong indication that  the demand for an 
alternative  system  to  the  central  one  is  relatively  limited.  The  use  of  such  systems  also 

(40)  Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 as 

regards establishing a framework for a European Digital Identity, COM (2021) 281 final. 

(41)  BSI - Erteilte Bescheinigungen über die Übereinstimmung individueller Online-Sammelsysteme mit der Verordnung (EU) 

2019/788 (bund.de) 

(42)  European  Parliament  resolution  of  13  June  2023  on  the  implementation  of  the  Regulations  on  the  European  citizens’ 

initiative (2022/2206(INI)), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0230_EN.html 

11 

 
 
creates a number of challenges and administrative burdens for both Member States (43) and ECI 
organisers.  

(ii) Burden on ECI organisers 

Using  an  individual  online  collection  system  creates  additional  costs  for  ECI  organisers  as 
regards its development,  management and certification (44), when compared  with  the central 
online collection system, which is a free-of-charge turnkey solution. The ECI organisers are 
also the sole data controllers of personal data collected via individual online collection systems. 
In the case of the central online collection system, this responsibility is almost entirely with the 
Commission, which is entrusted with the management of the system.  

Any reintroduction of individual online collection systems would entail further burdens for 
ECI organisers to ensure compliance with the applicable technical specifications, because 
these systems would have to be regularly audited to ensure continuing compliance throughout 
the collection period.  

The Commission has looked into the specific needs that ECI organisers mention for choosing 
alternative systems. The most recurrent reason mentioned is the possibility of embedding that 
system in third-party websites, thus enabling the collection of signatures via a variety of entry 
points. The Commission therefore commissioned a study by an external IT research team (45) 
to investigate whether there are embeddable solutions for the central online collection system 
that  the  Commission  can  offer  to  ECI  organisers  that  ensure  security  and  personal  data 
protection  in  compliance  with  the  ECI  Regulation;  and  to  estimate  the  operational  and 
budgetary  impacts  of  such  solutions.  The  study  showed  that  the  decentralised  collection  of 
statements of support on multiple websites of unknown third parties entails significant security 
and data protection risks. In those cases where ECI organisers reported that they had embedded 
the individual online collection system on multiple websites, the certifying authorities indicated 
that  they  had  not  been  notified  of  such  essential  changes  to  the  certified  system.  This 
notification would allow them to assess whether those changes would (still) comply with the 
technical specifications set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1799 (46), 
including security and data protection requirements. 

In view of the findings of the external experts, reintroducing the individual online collection 
systems would require any ‘embedded’ websites to be included in the certification, combined 
with a regular auditing mechanism to check that the respective campaigning websites remain 

(43)   See also section 3.4.4. above. 

(44)   The certification procedure, which is laid down in Article 11 of the ECI Regulation, aims to ensure that individual online 
collection  systems  comply  with  the  technical  specifications  set  out  in  Commission  Implementing  Regulation 
(EU) 2019/1799 of 22 October 2019 (OJ L 274, 28.10.2019, p. 3). 

(45)   https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-

11/Study%20on%20Technical%20Solutions%20for%20Organisers%20of%20European%20Citizens%20Initiatives.pdf  

(46)   Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2019/1799  of  22  October  2019  laying  down  technical  specifications  for 
individual online collection systems pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/788 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
on the European citizens’ initiative (OJ L 274, 28.10.2019, p. 3). 

12 

 
 
compliant throughout the collection period. This would entail additional costs and burdens for 
ECI organisers (47). 

(iii) Burden on Member States 

The individual online collection systems need to be certified by competent authorities  in the 
Member State where data are stored. As part of the latest reform, the Commission’s proposal 
kept the option for ECI organisers to use individual online collection systems. However, the co-
legislators removed this provision from the proposal during the legislative negotiations. As a 
result, individual online collection systems were phased out and could only be used by ECIs 
that were registered before 1 January 2023. Reintroducing those systems would bring back 
the  obligation  for  Member  States  to  certify  them.  The  above-mentioned  external  study 
concluded  that  the  most  effective  way  of  controlling  security  and  data  protection  risks 
associated  with  the  decentralised  collection  of  signatures  would  be  to  set  up  a  new 
certification/auditing  mechanism,  with  a  set  of  technical  requirements  comparable  with  (but 
stricter  than)  the  ones  previously  provided  for  those  individual  systems  under  Commission 
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1799. The study also estimates that the complexity of the 
auditing and its costs could place an excessive burden on national authorities (48). 

Given  the  impact  on  Member  States  if  individual  online  collection  systems  were  to  be 
reintroduced, the Commission consulted the national authorities represented in the ECI Expert 
Group. Their feedback indicates that the position of Member States has not changed since the 
legislative negotiation of the second ECI Regulation. The prevailing view was that the central 
online collection system has been a positive development because it ensures the security of data 
and their safe transfer and enables a faster verification process. This system could be further 
enhanced to respond to future emerging needs. Several Member States noted that reintroducing 
the  individual  online  collection  systems  would  be  inefficient  and  expensive  because  each 
Member State  would need to  ensure the year-round availability of the required resources to 
timely  certify  those  systems.  Some  Member  States  also  commented  that  verification  of 
collected statements of support via an individual online collection system is more complex and 
time-consuming because the quality of the collected data can vary. Certification by Member 
States would also introduce a risk of non-uniform implementation. 

(47)   The implementation and maintenance costs for the ECI organisers vary according to the nature of the embeddable solution 
set out in the report of the external experts. If the ECI organisers need to involve external expertise, the simplest solution 
would cost an average of EUR 9 650 for initial one-off implementation and a further EUR 6 500 in maintenance costs per 
year. These costs are based on embedding the system in three campaigning websites (which the external study recommends 
as the maximum number in view of the substantial security and data protection risks involved). The maintenance costs are 
expected to increase linearly if the solution were to be embedded in more than three websites. These figures include neither 
the development and maintenance costs to be covered by the Commission nor the costs of certification and auditing by 
the Member States throughout the collection period. 

(48)   The external study estimated the initial one-off cost of certifying each embeddable solution, before starting the collection 
of statements of support, at EUR 10 000. The study also recommended that national certifying authorities should audit the 
organisers’  websites  and  the  embeddable  solution  every  4  months,  during the twelve-month  collection  process.  These 
costs are estimated at EUR 3 250 per audit per website (if  carried out by  a private company). In the case of the more 
technically complex solution, it is recommended that a regular code audit should take place, which will on average cost 
another EUR 6 500 per audit per website. 

13 

 
 
 
Assessment of the Commission 

Having assessed the three areas described above and considering: (i) the significant security 
and  data  protection  risks  of  any  decentralised  solution  for  collecting  statements  of  support 
online; (ii) the potentially substantial burdens and related costs for ECI organisers and national 
administrations of ensuring compliance with strict security and data protection rules; and (iii) 
the availability of a central system that guarantees high levels of security and data protection, 
the Commission has concluded that reintroducing the individual online collection systems 
is  not  opportune  because  it  would  run  counter  to  the  objective  of  making  the  ECI  more 
accessible and less burdensome. 

3.5. Verification phase 

Since 1 January 2020, seven ECIs have gone through the verification procedure that requires 
national  authorities  to  certify  the  validity  of  the  statements  of  support  gathered  from  their 
nationals: ‘End the Cage Age’* (49), ‘Eat original! Unmask your food’*, ‘Cohesion policy’*, 
‘Save bees and farmers!’*, ‘Stop finning’, ‘Save cruelty free cosmetics’ and ‘Fur Free Europe’. 
For the ECIs registered under the second ECI Regulation, organisers are required to transfer the 
collected statements of support within 3 months after the end of the collection period (50). This 
has made the verification process more predictable and allowed Member States authorities to 
better plan their resources to engage in the verification process. The results of the verification 
process were positive for six of the seven ECIs. The results of the verification process did not 
allow the ‘Eat original’ ECI to reach the required thresholds in seven Member States (51)).  

Competent  authorities  verify  the  statements  of  support  in  accordance  with  national  law  and 
practice in line with Article 12(4) of the ECI Regulation. The Commission provides guidance 
to  Member  States  on  the  practical  implementation  of  the  ECI  Regulation,  including  the 
verification phase. Member States may adopt specific national implementing provisions, which 
may also cover the verification procedure. These are notified to the Commission and published 
on the ECI website (52). 

Regarding the methodologies used for verification, 14 Member States reported that they had 
performed an exhaustive check of all the statements of support (BG, CZ, EL, ES, FR, HR, CY, 
LV, HU, AT, PL,  RO,  SI  and SK), while 11 reported  that they had performed verifications 
using random sampling (BE, DK, DE, EE, IE, IT, LT, LU, PT, FI and SE) (53). In terms of the 
type  of  national  register  used  for  the  verification  process,  most  Member  States  use  the 
population registers (BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IT, CY, LT, LV, LU, HU, AT, PL, PT, RO, 

(49) * = registered under the first ECI Regulation. 

(50)  Article 12(2) of the ECI Regulation. 

(51)  The ECI organisers challenged one of the national decisions in a national court, without success. 

(52)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works/implementation-national-level_en  

(53)   Data for the Netherlands and Malta have not been reported by the relevant authorities. 

14 

 
 
SI, SK, FI and SE (54), while several Member States use the electoral registers (IE, EL, ES, FR 
and HR).  

In order of decreasing frequency, the most common irregularities encountered in the course of 
verification  that  led  to  the  invalidation  of  statements  of  support,  as  reported  by  national 
authorities, were: 1) the lack of identity details or other mistakes that prevent authorities from 
identifying the signatory; 2) multiple statements of support from the same signatory; and 3) 
inconsistent personal data provided in the form (including missing data on paper forms). The 
use of the file exchange service and online collection of statements of support have facilitated 
the verification process. Overall, Member States are satisfied or very satisfied with the guidance 
materials provided by the Commission on the file exchange system. Several national authorities 
reported  that  the  process  is  smoother  and  more  standardised  when  the  data  are  transferred 
directly from the Commission’s central online collection system.  

In their responses to the survey, ECI organisers considered the procedure for  verification as 
effective overall but noted some delayed responses by Member States. 

3.6. Examination and follow-up 

Since  1 January 2020,  six  valid  ECIs (55)  have  been  submitted  to  the  Commission  for 
examination, after over 1 million signatures had been collected. The Commission replied to five 
of  these;  the  sixth  reply  is  planned  for  adoption  by  14  December  2023.  The  three-month 
deadline for the submission of successful initiatives to the Commission (56) has provided more 
certainty to  citizens  and  institutions  regarding the follow-up of initiatives,  thus  addressing  a 
recurrent issue in relation to the implementation of the first ECI Regulation as identified in the 
2015 and 2018 reports (57)). 

1)  ‘Minority Safepack – One million signatures for diversity in Europe’ (58)  

This  ECI  called  for  the  adoption  of  a  set  of  legal  acts  to  improve  the  protection  of  persons 
belonging to national and linguistic minorities and to strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity 
in the EU. The organisers submitted the ECI to the Commission on 10 January 2020, having 
gathered  1 128 422  valid  statements  of  support  and  reached  the  necessary  thresholds  in  11 
Member States. The organisers met with European Commission Vice-President for Values and 
Transparency,  Věra  Jourová,  and  the  Commissioner  for  Innovation,  Research,  Culture, 
Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, on 5 February 2020. On 15 October 2020, the organisers 
presented their ECI and its proposals at a public hearing at the European Parliament. The ECI 

(54)  Portugal ticked ‘other registers’ and referred to a ‘civil identification database’ that has been assimilated into a population 

register for the purposes of this report. 

(55)  Three registered under the first ECI Regulation, and three under the second ECI Regulation. 

(56)  Article 13 of the ECI Regulation. 

(57)  First  Report  on  the  application  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  211/2011  on  the  citizens'  initiative,  COM(2015)  145  final: 
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/api/files/COM(2015)145_0/de00000000349456?rendition=false; 
Second  Report  on  the  application  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  211/2011  on  the  citizens’  initiative,  COM(2018)  157  final: 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0157   

(58)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2017/000004_en  

15 

 
 
was also debated during the European Parliament's plenary session on 14 December 2020. The 
European  Parliament  expressed  its  support  for  the  ECI  in  a  resolution (59)  adopted  on 
17 December 2020. 

to 

its  reply 

The  Commission  adopted 
the  ECI  on  14 January 2021  (Commission 
Communication  C(2021) 171 (60)).  The  Commission  assessed  each  of  the  nine  individual 
proposals  on  its  own  merits,  taking  into  account  the  principles  of  subsidiarity  and 
proportionality. While no further legal acts were proposed, the Commission response stressed 
that  the  full  implementation  of  legislation  and  policies  already  in  place  should  serve  as  a 
powerful  set  of  measures  to  support  the  ECI’s  goals.  The  Commission  is  monitoring  the 
implementation  of  the  relevant  initiatives  and  continues  to  conduct  policy  actions  in  these 
areas (61). 

the  General  Court. 

In  April  2021,  the  ECI’s  organisers  brought  an  action  for  annulment  against  Commission 
Communication  C(2021)  171  before 
judgment  of 
9 November 2022 (62), the Court dismissed the ECI organisers’ request. The General Court held 
that the Commission had fulfilled its obligation to state its reasons when considering, at the 
time of the Communication, that no additional legal act was necessary to achieve the objectives 
pursued by the ECI because of the initiatives already undertaken by the EU institutions in the 
areas covered by the ECI and the Commission’s monitoring of their implementation. The ECI 
organisers lodged an appeal against this judgment with the Court of Justice on 21 January 2023 
(case C-26/23 P). 

its 

In 

2)  ‘End the Cage Age’ (63) 

This ECI called for a transition to more ethical and sustainable farming systems, including 
a revision of existing EU animal welfare rules. The ECI was submitted to the Commission on 
2 October 2020,  having  gathered  1 397 113  valid  statements  of  support  and  reached  the 
necessary  thresholds  in  18  Member  States.  The  ECI  organisers  met  with  the  European 
Commission  Vice-President  for  Values  and  Transparency,  Věra  Jourová,  and 
the 
Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, on 30 October 2020. A public 
hearing took place in the European Parliament on 15 April 2021. The ECI was debated in the 

(59)  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0370_EN.html  

(60)  Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Minority SafePack - one million signatures 
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-
171 

C(2021) 

final: 

diversity 

for 
Europe’, 
register/api/files/C(2021)171_0/de00000000036104?rendition=false  

in 

(61)   Updates  on 

the  follow-up  actions  are  regularly  published  on 

the 

initiative's  page 

in 

the  ECI  register: 

https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative/initiatives/details/2017/000004/minority-safepack-one-million-signatures-diversity-
europe_en. 

(62)   Judgment of the General Court of 9 November 2022, Citizens' Committee of the European Citizens' Initiative "Minority 
SafePack  –  one  million  signatures  for  diversity  in  Europe"  v  European  Commission,  T-158/21,  EU:T:2022:696: 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62021TJ0158 

(63)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2018/000004_en  

16 

 
 
European Parliament’s plenary session on 10 June 2021. The European Parliament expressed 
its support for the ECI in a resolution (64) adopted on the same day. 

The Commission adopted its reply (65) to the ECI on 30 June 2021. It announced its intention 
to adopt, by the end of 2023, a legislative proposal to phase out and ultimately prohibit the use 
of cage systems for all animals mentioned in the ECI, under conditions to be determined on the 
basis  of  opinions  from  the  European  Food  Safety  Authority  and  the  results  of  an  impact 
assessment and a public consultation. The Commission is now carefully assessing important 
aspects to ensure that the transition to cage-free farming is sustainable for the agricultural sector 
and for our food systems, including food security. The preliminary results of the ongoing impact 
assessment  show  that  the  transition  to  cage-free  systems  demands  the  adaptation  of  several 
farming parameters, such as enriching the environment of the animals, and providing them with 
more space, to secure improved welfare conditions for the animals. Further consultations are 
needed concerning the costs, the appropriate length of the transitional period and the relevant 
measures at import. To ensure a proper balance between animal welfare and socio-economic 
impacts, the phasing out of cages has to come with other animal welfare measures at farm level. 
Preparatory work will therefore continue, including in the context of the strategic dialogue on 
the future of agriculture in the EU. 

3)  ‘Save  bees  and  farmers!  Towards  a  bee-friendly  agriculture  for  a  healthy 

environment’ (66) 

This ECI called on the Commission to submit a proposal to phase out synthetic pesticides by 
2035,  to  restore  biodiversity,  and  to  support  farmers  during  the  transitional  period.  The 
organisers submitted the ECI to the Commission on 7 October 2022, having gathered 1 054 973 
valid statements of support and reached the necessary thresholds in 11 Member States. The ECI 
organisers met with the European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, 
Věra  Jourová,  and  the  Commissioner  for  Health  and  Food  Safety,  Stella  Kyriakides,  on 
25 November 2022.  A  public  hearing 
the  European  Parliament  on 
24 January 2023.  The  ECI  was  debated  at  the  European  Parliament’s  plenary  session  on 
16 March 2023, but no resolution was adopted. The European Economic and Social Committee 
adopted an opinion on this ECI on 14 December 2022 (67).  

took  place  at 

The Commission adopted its reply (68) to the ECI on 5 April 2023. It welcomed the ECI and 
acknowledged its importance, in particular in the context of the interlinked crises of climate 
change, pollution and biodiversity loss. The Commission underlined its view that the priority 

(64)  European  Parliament  resolution  of  10  June  2021  on  the  European  Citizens’  Initiative  ‘End  the  cage  age’ 

(2021/2633(RSP)): https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0295_EN.html  

(65)  Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘End the Cage Age’, C(2021) 4747 final: 
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/api/files/C(2021)4747_0/090166e5df30600f?rendition=false  

(66)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2019/000016_en  

(67)  https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions/european-citizens-initiative-save-bees-

and-farmers    

(68)   Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-
friendly  agriculture  for  a  healthy  environment’,  C(2023)  2320  final:  https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-
register/detail?ref=C(2023)2320&lang=en  

17 

 
 
is to ensure that the proposals currently being negotiated by the co-legislators are adopted on 
time  and  then  implemented,  together  with  an  effective  implementation  of  the  common 
agricultural policy.  

4)  ‘Stop finning – Stop the trade’ (69) 

This ECI called on the Commission to submit a proposal ‘to end the trade of shark fins in the 
EU including  the import, export and transit of fins  unless naturally attached to  the animal’s 
body.’ The organisers submitted the ECI on 11 January 2023, having gathered 1 119 996 valid 
statements  of  support  and  reached  the  necessary  threshold  in  15  Member  States.  The  ECI 
organisers  met  with  the  Commissioner  for  Environment,  Oceans  and  Fisheries,  Virginijus 
Sinkevičius,  on  6 February 2023.  A  public  hearing  was  held  at  the  European  Parliament  on 
27 March 2023. The ECI was debated in plenary debate on 11 May 2023, but no resolution was 
adopted. 

The Commission adopted its  reply (70)  to  the  ECI  on 5 July 2023. It  welcomed the  ECI  and 
committed itself to undertake an impact assessment on the environmental, social and economic 
consequences of applying the ‘fins naturally attached’ policy to the placement on the market of 
sharks in the EU and to examine the best legal means to request more detailed information with 
a view to improving relevant statistics. The Commission will also step up the enforcement of 
EU traceability measures and engage with international partners. 

5)  ‘Save cruelty free cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without animal testing’ (71) 

This ECI called on the Commission to submit a proposal to strengthen and broaden the existing 
EU bans on animal testing for cosmetics and the marketing of ingredients tested on animals; 
and to adopt a legislative proposal setting out a roadmap to phase out all animal testing before 
the end of the current Commission’s term of office. The organisers submitted the ECI to the 
Commission on 25 January 2023, having gathered 1 217 916 valid statements of support and 
reached the necessary thresholds in 21 Member States. On 17 March 2023, the ECI organisers 
met  with  the  Vice-President  of  the  European  Commission  in  charge  of  Values  and 
Transparency,  Věra  Jourová,  and  the  European  Commissioner  for  Internal  Market,  Thierry 
Breton. The European Parliament organised a public hearing on this ECI on 25 May 2023. The 
ECI was debated in a plenary debate on 10 July 2023, but no resolution was adopted. 

The Commission adopted its reply (72) to the ECI on 25 July 2023. It welcomed the ECI and 
acknowledged that animal welfare remains a strong concern for EU citizens, and highlighted 
the EU’s leading role in phasing out the use of animals in testing and improving animal welfare 
in general. This role is especially reflected in the complete ban on animal testing for cosmetics 

(69)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2020/000001_en  

(70)  Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Stop finning – Stop the Trade’: C(2023) 

4489 final: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-07/C_2023_4489_1_EN.pdf  

(71)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2021/000006_en  

(72)  Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Save cruelty free cosmetics - Commit 
to  a  Europe  without  animal  testing’  C(2023)  5041  final:  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-
07/C_2023_5041_EN.pdf  

18 

 
 
that has been in place in the EU since 2013. The Commission announced that it would launch 
a new roadmap with  a set of legislative and non-legislative actions to further reduce animal 
testing, with the aim of ultimately moving to an animal-free regulatory system under chemicals 
legislation  (e.g.  REACH,  the  Biocidal  Products  Regulation,  the  Plant  Protection  Products 
Regulation  and  legislation  concerning  human  and  veterinary  medicines)  and  continuing  to 
strongly  support  alternatives  to  animal  testing.  The  Commission  stated  that  it  would  also 
continue its strong support for research into the development of alternatives to animal testing 
and would explore the possibility of coordinating the activities of the Member States in this 
field. 

6)  ‘Fur Free Europe’ (73) 

This  ECI  called  on  the  Commission  to  submit  a  proposal  to  introduce  an  EU-wide  ban  on 
keeping and killing animals for the purpose of fur production, as well as for placing farmed 
animal fur, and products containing such fur, on the EU market. The organisers submitted the 
ECI to the Commission on 14 June 2023, having gathered 1 502 319 valid statements of support 
and reached the necessary thresholds in 18 Member States. On 20 July 2023, the ECI organisers 
met with European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, 
and the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, to present the objectives 
of  their  ECI.  The  European  Parliament  organised  a  public  hearing  on  this  initiative  on  12 
October  2023  and  a  plenary  debate  took  place  on  19  October  2023,  but  no  resolution  was 
adopted.  

The Commission will adopt its reply by 14 December 2023. 

Feedback from ECI organisers participating in the survey 

Organisers  of  successful  ECIs  who  took  part  in  the  survey  were  mostly  positive  or  neutral 
regarding the clarity of the procedure during the examination phase and were satisfied overall 
with the opportunities provided to present their ECI during the meeting with the Commission 
and the public hearing at the European Parliament. They also considered that the Commission 
had explained in a clear, comprehensible and detailed manner the reasons for its intended action 
in response to their successful ECI. 

3.7. Transparency - funding 

Article  17  of  the  ECI  Regulation  requires  the  ECI  organisers  to  provide  comprehensive 
information  about  the  sources  of  any  funding  and  in-kind  support  for  the  ECI  exceeding 
EUR 500 per sponsor. The information provided indicates an increase in funds raised in support 
of  ECIs,  with  two  ECIs (74)  collecting  over  EUR 1 million  (both  reached  the  1  million 

(73)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2022/000002_en  

(74)  The ‘Save cruelty free cosmetics; and ‘Fur Free Europe’ ECIs. 

19 

 
 
 
signatures threshold) and another eight ECIs (75) reporting funding of over EUR 100 000 (four 
of these ECIs reached the 1 million signatures threshold).  

Chart 2: distribution of ECIs by funding 

3.8. Protection of personal data 

The ECI Regulation has simplified the management of personal data collected in the process of 
running an ECI. 

Firstly,  the  personal  data  that  citizens  must  provide  to  support  ECIs  has  been  reduced  and 
harmonised  across  the  27  Member  States,  with  only  two  sets  of  data  from  which  national 
authorities can choose: 1) first names, family names, date of birth and address; or 2) first names, 
family names and personal identification (document) number. The provision of a minimum set of 
personal data from signatories is necessary to enable Member States to verify the validity of the 
statements of support against national databases such as election or population registers. Even 
though  the  European  Parliament  called  for  further  simplification  of  the  data  requirements,  a 
consultation of Member States confirmed that such simplification could jeopardise their ability 
to verify statements of support with the required level of confidence.  

To ensure that citizens can easily understand how their personal data are managed in the ECI 
process and how they can access key information regarding the processing of their data, privacy 
statements (76) covering the different processing operations have been developed and replies to 
frequently asked questions have been published (77). 

Secondly, with the transition to the central online collection system and the provision by the 
Commission  of  a  secure  data-transfer  system,  the  Commission  is  responsible  for  the 

(75)  The ‘Minority SafePack’, ‘Stop Extremism’, ‘End the Cage Age’, ‘Save bees and farmers’, ‘Ban Fossil Fuel Advertising 
and  Sponsorships’,  ‘End  The  Slaughter  Age’,  ‘Good  Clothes.  Fair  Pay’  and  ‘Protect  the  EU’s  Rural  Heritage,  Food 
Security and Supply’ ECIs. 

(76)  Privacy policy: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works/privacy-policy_en  

(77)  FAQ: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works/faq_en#Data-protection  

20 

 
 
 
management  of  all  personal  data  collected  online  through  this  system.  A  dedicated  data 
controller  module  allows  the  Commission  to  comply  with  its  duties  as  data  controller  and 
respond  swiftly  and  effectively  to  data  subjects’  requests.  Therefore,  the  ECI  organisers’ 
responsibilities and liability for the protection of personal data is limited to personal data 
collected on paper statements of support.  

Detailed guidance on data protection for ECI organisers (78) has been made available to help 
them with data protection compliance. The guidance explains the key principles and terms as 
well as the ECI organisers’ obligations in their capacity as controllers or joint controllers when 
processing personal data during the ECI process.  

Most ECI organisers taking part in the survey considered the data protection rules to be very 
clear and effective, and reported that they had not experienced any difficulties in complying 
with them. Several organisers mentioned citizens’ reluctance to provide the required personal 
data as one of the challenges during the collection phase. To assess citizens’ views, this topic 
was included in the surveys for citizens and users of the central online collection system. Only 
a small number of respondents to the citizens survey stated that they did not want to share their 
personal data in order to support an ECI. The majority of the citizens who signed an ECI using 
the Commission’s system and who took the exit survey felt confident about the security of the 
data  they  provided  via  the  system  and  most  respondents  felt  reassured  by  the  fact  that  the 
Commission (and not another entity) was collecting and storing their personal data. On the other 
hand, some respondents to the exit survey (17%) rated their confidence level below 5 out of 10, 
which indicates the need for further awareness raising actions by the Commission about the 
measures in place to ensure a high level of personal data protection.  

3.9. Information and awareness-raising by the Commission and Member States  

In line with Articles 4 and 18 of the ECI Regulation, the Commission has set up the multilingual 
‘EU  Take  the  Initiative’  communication  campaign  to  raise  awareness  about  the  existence, 
objectives and functioning of the ECI through a wide range of activities. The campaign makes 
extensive use of digital technologies and social media as well as the support of the Commission 
Representations in all Member States.  

ECI communication campaign activities 

• 

In addition to the multilingual ECI website (79), information about the ECI is provided 
through: the monthly ECI newsletter (80) (available in all EU languages via automatic 
translation); social media campaigns across the EU27; presence in youth/democracy 
festivals at national level; media relations, webinars and information sessions for the 

(78)  Data protection: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works/data-protection_en 

(79)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/_en 

(80)  https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/ecif/newsletter-archives/view/service/1501  

21 

 
 
general public or multipliers who help disseminate information at national level; and a 
podcast series (81).  

•  Young  people  are  a  key  target  group.  In  June  2023,  a  multilingual  educational 
toolkit (82)  was  launched,  allowing  teachers  to  engage  pupils  in  the  last  years  of 
secondary education in discussions and activities related to active EU citizenship and the 
tools  available  at  EU  level,  including  the  ECI.  It  is  accompanied  by  a  video 
competition (83) for the students launched in October 2023. 

•  A network of ambassadors and multipliers has been created to help spread messages 
at  national  and  local  level.  It  includes  the  national  contact  points (84),  ECI 
Ambassadors (85)  (representing  mainly  civil  society  organisations),  Europe  Direct 
centres (86) and other EU institutions and partners. 

The Commission also ensures the promotion of the ECI in the Commission’s Open Day (87) in 
early May each year and in events organised by other EU institutions, such as the ECI Day (88), 
the European Week of Regions and Cities (89) and the European Youth Event (90). In the last 
quarter of 2023, the Commission is also carrying out a communication campaign celebrating 
the 30th anniversary of EU Citizenship, to further raise awareness and understanding among 
EU citizens of their rights; the ECI is one of the rights covered by the campaign. 

Other EU institutions and bodies also contribute to raising awareness of the ECI – notably the 
European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  through  the  annual  ECI  Day  and  the  European 
Parliament on the occasion of the ECIs’ hearings and plenary debates.  

The campaign was impacted in 2020-2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic and the public focus 
on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, but performance has nevertheless been 
good, with positive trends for traffic to the ECI website (91) (more than doubled since 2020); 
subscriptions to the ECI newsletter (130 000, which represents a six-fold increase since 2020) 
and the reach of the social media campaigns (over 130 million campaign messages displayed 
since 2020). 

(81)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/news/citizencentral-podcast_en  

(82)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/schools/eci-educational-toolkit_en  

(83)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/schools/video-competition_en  

(84)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/contact-points-national-level_en  

(85)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/spread-word/eci-ambassadors_en  

(86)  https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu/meet-us_en  

(87)  https://europeday.europa.eu/european-commission-2023_en  

(88)  https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/agenda/our-events/events/eci-day-2023  

(89)  https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/  

(90)  https://european-youth-event.europarl.europa.eu/en/  

(91)  https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/_en  

22 

 
 
 
 
Despite the positive trends and wide range of activities being carried out, various stakeholders 
(citizens,  organisers,  NGOs,  other  EU  institutions)  consider  that  there  is  insufficient  public 
awareness of the ECI. Organisers report the lack of ECI awareness as an important challenge 
during their collection of statements of support and citizens report it as the main reason why 
they had not supported ECIs. At the same time, the EU-wide level of awareness of EU citizens 
(as measured by two subsequent Eurobarometer series (92)) ranges from 41% in 2021 to 64% 
in 2023 (93). 

National contact points 

In line with Article 4(6) of the ECI Regulation, each Member State has established one or more 
national  contact  points (94)  to  provide  free-of-charge  information  and  assistance  to  ECI 
organisers. The Commission keeps the national contact points informed about the latest ECI 
developments and provides them with materials in all EU languages for distribution to national 
audiences.  Member  States  reported  in  their  survey  replies  that  most  contact  points  provide 
information on their websites and reply to requests from citizens or the media. A few also take 
a proactive approach and use a wider range of communication channels and activities to inform 
citizens. The results of the same survey indicate that the contact points have all the information 
and  documentation  they  need  to  confidently  perform  their  role.  The  Commission  provides 
opportunities for them to exchange experiences and share good practices. 

3.10. Guidance and support to organisers 

As agreed during the 2019 ECI reform, substantial in-kind support was made available to ECI 
organisers in the form of the free-to-use central online collection system (and related IT support 
offered  by  the  Commission);  guidance,  training  and  legal  advice  through  the  ECI  Forum 
(managed by the Commission through an external contractor); and increased activities to raise 
awareness about the ECI, which also indirectly promote ongoing ECIs. 

ECI Forum 

In accordance with Article 4 of the ECI Regulation, the Commission makes available, free of 
charge, an online collaborative platform for the ECI, which provides practical and legal advice, 
and a discussion forum for the exchange of information and best practices. The Commission 
has subcontracted the management of this platform (the ECI Forum (95) to an external service 
provider following an open tender.  

In their dedicated survey, ECI organisers’ feedback was overall positive regarding the advice 
provided by the ECI Forum at different stages of the ECI process, including during the two-
stage registration procedure (when they need to revise their initial submission) and during the 

(92)  Based on interviews with a representative sample of citizens, aged 15 and over, in each of the 27 Member States of the 

European Union.  

(93)  Flash Eurobarometer 528 ‘Citizenship and democracy’ (2023) 

(94)   https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative/contact-points-national-level_en 

(95)  https://citizens-initiative-forum.europa.eu/_en 

23 

 
 
collection phase. ECI organisers have made extensive use of the Forum’s learning materials 
before registration and rate highly the webinars, blogs, online course and the ability to search 
for other members for their group.  

ECI Forum activities 

•  The ECI Forum offers a wide range of learning materials to help citizens to prepare 
and run an ECI (guidance notes, success stories, etc.); webinars; an online course; 
and presentations at universities and events.  
the  Commission’s  guidance,  consultations  with 
It  also  organises,  under 
stakeholders  on  various  aspects  of  the  implementation  of  the  Forum  and  the 
functioning of the ECI to improve the services offered to ECI organisers.  

• 

3.11. Organisers’ experience with the ECI  

Most surveyed organisers state that they started their ECI journey out of personal interest in 
a cause that they believed should be addressed at EU level. A third of respondents to the 
survey started an ECI out of professional or academic interest – including, in one case, in 
response to other ECIs (‘a reaction to the fact there is no way to sign against an ECI’). Several 
respondents  cite links to past  ECIs.  Half of the survey respondents  had  previously  explored 
other tools (e.g. petitions at national level or to the European Parliament) but considered that 
they did not sufficiently achieve their goals. The ECI was chosen because it had greater political 
impact (‘because the Commission is forced to respond’), was a ‘strong support for advocacy 
strategies and to give more legitimacy to the campaign’ or because of its EU-wide dimension. 
One ECI organiser stated having carefully planned the timing of the ECI so that it could be 
taken into account in a planned review of the relevant legislation. 

Most respondents consider the ECI to be a worthwhile experience because they came close 
to their initial goals on at least one or several of the counts mentioned in the survey (see Chart 
3).  In  terms  of  what  they  achieved  through  the  ECI,  organisers  gave  the  highest  scores  to 
personal  and  professional  development;  raising  awareness  about  the  cause  they  care  about; 
starting a debate on the topic of their ECI; and establishing a network of partners with a view 
to long-term cooperation.  

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chart 3: organisers’ views on the achievement of their initial goals 

4. 

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC 

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedent impact on Member States and their citizens. The 
national confinement measures and, more generally, the omnipresence of the pandemic made 
it  nearly  impossible  for  ECI  organisers  to  successfully  continue  their  local  campaigning 
activities and the collection of statements of support on paper that were necessary in order to 
gather  the  required  support  within  the  twelve-month  period.  In  response  to  the  exceptional 
circumstances and in order to preserve the efficacy of the ECI instrument during the pandemic, 
the  EU 
form  of 
Regulation (EU) 2020/1042 (96)),  such  as  an  extension  of  the  collection  periods  for  affected 
ECIs;  an  extension  of  the  verification  and  examination  periods  for  national  competent 
authorities  and  EU  institutions  respectively;  and  specific  arrangements  for  the  Commission 
meeting with the ECI organisers and the public hearing in the European Parliament. 

temporary  measures 

institutions 

adopted 

swiftly 

the 

(in 

In conjunction with the subsequent implementing acts (97), the temporary measures served their 
purpose. Owing to these temporary measures, 12 ECIs were granted extensions of up to 12 
months  to  collect  signatures  and  3  of  these (98)  were  therefore  able  to  reach  the  required 

(96)  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1042  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15  July  2020  laying  down  temporary 
measures  concerning  the  time  limits  for  the  collection,  the  verification  and  the  examination  stages  provided  for  in 
Regulation (EU) 2019/788 on the European citizens’ initiative in view of the COVID-19 outbreak (OJ L 231, 17.7.2020, 
p. 7–11). 

(97)   Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/2200 of 17 December 2020, C/2020/9226; Commission Implementing 
Decision  (EU)  2021/360  of  19 February  2021,  C/2021/1121;  Commission  Implementing  Decision  (EU)  2021/944  of 
3 June 2021, C/2021/3879. All three implementing decisions provide for the extension of the periods for the collection of 
statements of support for certain ECIs pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/1042. 

(98)  ‘Cohesion Policy’, ‘Save bees and farmers!’ and ‘Stop Finning – Stop the Trade’. 

25 

 
 
 
thresholds. In addition, the Commission granted to one Member State upon request an extension 
of the deadline for completing its verification obligations. 

Not all ECIs whose representatives responded to the survey were impacted by the COVID-19 
pandemic to the same degree. For the significantly impacted ECIs, the following measures were 
regarded as most effective in addressing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic: the 
extension of deadlines for signature collection; the availability of an online infrastructure for 
running an ECI; and the shift to online activities which made it easier to promote the ECI.  

5.  WAY FORWARD  

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the functioning  of the ECI in  the first  two 
years of application of the second ECI Regulation. As described above, the temporary measures 
proved their effectiveness given the extraordinary circumstances and the ECI could resume its 
normal functioning once the restrictive measures were lifted. Various positive developments 
can already be noted, but the Commission estimates that the full impact of the revised rules can 
only be assessed over a longer period of application under normal circumstances. 

Based on the assessment of the application of the second ECI Regulation presented above, the 
Commission  considers  that  the  ECI  rules  that  were  introduced  in  2020  provide  a  more 
accessible,  less  burdensome  and  more  user-friendly  framework  for  ECI  organisers  and 
supporters. At the same time, the Commission also considers – having taken into account the 
views of the European Parliament, European Economic and Social Committee (99) and those of 
ECI organisers, citizens and stakeholders – that further practical improvements can already be 
made within the existing legal framework. 

In view of the above assessment and the European Parliament’s resolution of 13 June 2023 on 
the  implementation  of  the  ECI  regulations,  the  Commission  will  implement  the  following 
actions: 

Action 1: enhancing ECI awareness and visibility  

Increasing  citizens’  awareness  of  their  rights  is  essential  for  their  active  and  effective 
participation in the democratic life of the EU.  

•  The  Commission  will  therefore  continue  and  streamline  the  multilingual  ECI 

communication campaign, with an increased use of social media.  

•  Campaign activities will also prioritise young people. 
•  The Commission will actively seek the involvement of the European Parliament (and of 
its  liaison  offices  in  the  Member  States)  and  Member  States  (through  the  national 
contact points) in the communication campaign, while also welcoming the contribution of 
other EU institutions and bodies, as well as of regional and local authorities, educational 
institutions and civil society organisations.  

(99)   Recommendation of the Ad hoc Group on the European Citizens' Initiative 'Functioning of the European citizens' initiative 
-  2020-2022':  https://www.eesc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/files/ahg_eci_recommendation_on_eci_functionning_2020-
2022_3_2.pdf    

26 

 
 
•  Following the Conference on the Future of Europe and the Commission’s renewed efforts 
on citizens’ participation, the ECI is being included in the revamped Have Your Say portal 
–  the  new  online  ‘one-stop-shop’  on  citizens’  engagement,  which  provides  additional 
opportunities to make the ECI more visible.  

•  The  Commission  will  cooperate  with  the  national  contact  points  to  promote  the  ECI 

website on relevant national platforms. 

Action 2: strengthening support for ECI organisers 

The  Commission  recognises  that  setting  up  and  managing  an  ECI  requires  time,  resources, 
dedication and perseverance. It will therefore strengthen its support for ECI organisers. 

•  The Commission will continue to support the ECI organisers directly or indirectly by 
offering a number of services, such as guidance and legal advice (via the ECI Forum); 
the  free-of-charge  use  of  the  secure  and  user-friendly  central  online  collection 
system  which  significantly  reduces  the  responsibilities  of  ECI  organisers  as  data 
controllers; and free-of-charge translation services.  

•  In-kind support to organisers will be further enhanced within the current budgetary 
and legal provisions by: providing further guidance on practical topics related to running 
ECIs  (in  particular,  raising  funds  and  promoting  ECIs  across  the  EU);  enhancing 
guidance  on  EU  and  Commission  competences  and  other  aspects  of  making  ECIs 
registrable;  and  further  improvements  to  the  IT  tools  (particularly  the  central  online 
collection system). 

•  The Commission will step up its provision of information about possible financial 
support under existing EU programmes, within the specific criteria of each call for 
proposals.  For  instance,  the  ‘Citizens,  Equality,  Rights  and  Values’  (CERV) 
programme (100) funds projects in the area of citizens’ engagement. To facilitate ECI 
organisers’  access  to  such  funding,  the  Commission  will  consistently  provide 
information about relevant calls for proposals and dedicated information sessions in its 
monthly ECI newsletters. In addition, the Commission will regularly inform the national 
contact points for the CERV programme about the ECI so that they are well-equipped 
to respond to requests for information from potential ECI organisers. The Commission 
will also ensure that available in-kind support for organisers is tailored and targeted to 
their needs (including funding needs) and that they are informed about all the services 
available to them. 

Action 3: continued improvement of the central online collection system 

As shown by the extensive feedback collected from citizens, the central online collection system 
is an easy-to-use and reliable tool for the online collection of signatures, that also meets the 
high security standards required when handling large amounts of personal data as in the case of 
ECIs. 

(100) https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/citizens-equality-rights-and-values-

programme_en   

27 

 
 
•  The Commission will continue to further develop the central online collection system 
(based  on  feedback  and  suggestions  collected  during  the  review  from  ECI  organisers, 
experts and citizens, as well as through regular testing and consultations with users) in order 
to meet ECI organisers’ needs even better.  

•  The  Commission  will  consider  other  improvements  such  as  adding  further  options  to 
customise  the  system  to  make  it  more  campaigner-friendly  and  more  engaging,  such  as 
providing ECI organisers  with  real-time statistics and a dashboard to  keep track of their 
ECI; and assessing ways to alert signatories so that they do not sign the same ECI multiple 
times.  

•  Communication  actions  will  also  focus  on  increasing  citizens’  awareness  on  how 
compliance with the data protection requirements is ensured when collecting their personal 
data through the central online collection system. 

Action 4: strengthening ECI implementation at national level and in cooperation with civil 
society 

The ECI Expert Group organised by the Commission provides a specific forum to consult and 
exchange  practices  with  the  Member  States’  authorities.  The  Commission  also  regularly 
organises stakeholder consultations and surveys to collect feedback and contributions with a 
view to making further practical improvements to the implementation of the ECI. To further 
strengthen  ECI  implementation  at  national  level  and  cooperation  with  civil  society,  the 
Commission will implement two measures. 

•  In the context of the ECI Expert Group, the Commission will continue to support 
Member  States  in  the  implementation  of  their  obligations  in  the  ECI  process, 
focusing for example on the verification of statements of support, the lowering of the 
minimum  age  for  supporting  ECIs,  the  integration  of  national  eID  schemes  with  the 
central  online  collection  system,  improvements  to  the  file  exchange  service  or  the 
provision of information and assistance to ECI organisers. 

•  The  Commission  will  further  involve  stakeholders  (including  civil  society 
organisations) whenever their expertise could prove useful on specific aspects of the 
implementation  of  the  ECI  Regulation,  such  as  improvements  to  the  central  online 
collection system; identifying further training and guidance needs for ECI organisers; 
and  increasing  ECI  awareness  and  visibility  (for  instance,  by  interlinking  the  ECI 
website with relevant online platforms on citizens’ participation at national level). 

Action 5: a more visible follow-up of ECIs 

In  line  with  Article  15(1)  of  the  ECI  Regulation,  the  Commission  meets  the  organisers  of 
successful ECIs to allow them to explain their objectives in detail. In line with Article 15(2), 
the Commission thoroughly substantiates its replies in the form of Communications adopted by 
the  College.  In  addition,  for  the  three  most  recent  successful  ECIs,  the  Member  of  the 
Commission responsible for the relevant policy area also met the organisers of successful ECIs 
after the Commission had adopted its reply.  

28 

 
•  To  better  inform  ECI  organisers  and  citizens  on  the  follow-up  actions  the 
Commission intends to take in response to valid ECIs, the Commission will from now 
on make such follow-up meetings standard practice. 

•  The  Commission  will  ensure  that  successful  ECIs  are  taken  into  account 
systematically when developing policy proposals in response to these ECIs and that 
their  organisers  are  consistently  included  in  consultations  related  to  the  proposals 
concerned.  

•  The  Commission  will  more  strongly  highlight  successful  ECIs  and  the  follow-up 
actions they triggered in its communication campaigns, in order to increase citizens’ 
awareness of the impact of ECIs on the EU policy-making process.  

6.  CONCLUSION 

Based on this review report, the Commission considers that the revised ECI Regulation delivers 
a more accessible, less burdensome and more user-friendly framework for ECI organisers and 
supporters. The Commission remains fully committed to ensuring that the revised ECI achieves 
its full potential as  a tool for fostering debate and citizens’ participation  at  EU level.  It will 
therefore take a number of concrete actions to further improve the functioning of the ECI and 
the  supporting  infrastructure  for  organisers,  as  well  as  showcase  the  impact  of  ECIs  on  EU 
policies.  

The  Commission  acknowledges  the  essential  contribution  that  the  European  Parliament  and 
Member States make to the effective implementation of the ECI Regulation. The Commission 
also  welcomes  the  contribution  of  other  EU  institutions  and  bodies,  as  well  as  other 
stakeholders, to enhancing the ECI’s visibility at EU, national and local levels and to making 
EU citizens aware of their right to use the ECI to shape EU policies.  

29 

 
Chart 4: distribution of organisers by nationality and residence 

ANNEX  

30 

 
 
Chart 5: distribution of organisers by age 

31