The European Citizens' Initiative is a unique way for you to help shape the EU by calling on the European Commission to propose new laws. Once an initiative has reached 1 million signatures, the Commission will decide on what action to take. See how it works step by step
If you consider starting an initiative, consult the ECI Forum for legal and practical advice.
On 29 January, the European Commission registered a European citizens' initiative entitled ‘Stop Funding Russia’s War: Phase Out Harmful and Useless Russian Imports into the EU’.
The initiative invites the Commission to propose measures to end the EU’s remaining import dependencies on Russia and Belarus by introducing sectoral bans or decisive phase-outs.
The initiative organisers have six months to open the signature collection.
On 26 January 2026, the organisers of the European citizens' initiative ‘Stop Destroying Videogames’ submitted it to the European Commission for examination, after the verification phase was successfully completed.
The 14th successful initiative has gathered 1,294,188 verified statements of support from EU citizens, surpassing the required minimum of one million, and reached minimum numbers in 24 Member States.
The organisers of the initiative call on the Commission to introduce a requirement for publishers selling or licensing videogames in the EU to leave such games in a functional state, so as to prevent publishers from remotely disabling videogames.
The Commission has until 27 July 2026 to present its official reply, outlining the actions it intends to take, if any. See what happens in the meantime: Step-by-Step.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will hold a debate on the successful European citizens' initiative "My Voice, My Choice: For Safe And Accessible Abortion" in its plenary session on Wednesday 21 January 2026. The debate is linked to the adoption of the EESC opinion on this initiative.
Webstreaming is available.
