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The College of Commissioners has today decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled ‘Eat ORIGINal! Unmask your food'.

The stated objective of the proposed Citizens' Initiative is to impose mandatory declarations of origin for all food products in order to prevent fraud, protect public health and guarantee consumers' right to information.

The Commission's decision to register the Initiative only concerns the legal admissibility of the proposal. The Commission has not analysed the substance at this stage.

The College of Commissioners has today decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled ‘STOP FRAUD and abuse of EU FUNDS - by better control of decisions, implementation and penalties'.

The proposed Citizens' Initiative calls for the application of enhanced controls and stricter sanctions in Member States which are not part of the European Public Prosecutor's Office to protect the Union's financial interests.

The College Decision notes that statements of support should be collected on the understanding that they would be supporting proposals which do not differentiate between Member States solely according to their participation or non-participation in the European Public Prosecutor's Office. This is because under the Treaties legal acts may not differentiate between Member States solely based on whether they participate in an enhanced cooperation. They can however do so when objectively justified, for example if there are different levels of protection of the financial interests of the Union.

The Commission's decision to register the Initiative only concerns the legal admissibility of the proposal. The Commission has not analysed the substance at this stage.

The College of Commissioners has today decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled 'End the Cage Age'.

The stated objectives of the proposed Citizens' Initiative are to end "inhumane treatment of farm animals" kept in cages. The organisers are asking the Commission to propose legislation to prohibit the use of: cages for laying hens, rabbits, pullets, broiler breeders, layer breeders, quail, ducks and geese; farrowing crates for sows; sow stalls and individual calf pens, where not already prohibited.

The Commission's decision to register the Initiative concerns only the legal admissibility of the proposal. The Commission has not analysed the substance at this stage.

The College of Commissioners has today decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled 'Permanent European Union Citizenship'.

The main objective of the proposed initiative is to guarantee that European citizenship and its associated rights cannot be lost once they have been attained. The organisers cite in particular the context of Brexit and the future loss of EU citizenship and rights of UK citizens.

The Commission's decision to register the Initiative concerns only the legal admissibility of the proposal. The Commission has not analysed the substance at this stage.

The College of Commissioners has today decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled 'Stop starvation for 8% of the European population!'.

The stated objectives of the proposed Citizens' Initiative include "to prompt governments to embrace the hunger problem" and to "emphasize the responsibility of governments to eradicate the problem." The organisers of the Initiative have set out a detailed list of actions where they call on the Commission to make legislative proposals. These range from the creation of a food stamp programme to a reform of agricultural derivatives markets, and a new classification system for food waste with associated targets and processing rules.

The Commission's decision to register the Initiative concerns only the legal admissibility of the proposal. The Commission has not analysed the substance at this stage.

General court ruling concerning ECI 'One of Us'

The College of Commissioners today decided not to register a proposed citizens' initiative, from a group of non-British EU citizens, entitled: "British friends – stay with us in the EU", whose stated objective is "to create a platform which would enable all European citizens to take part in this initiative and to reach a majority of British Citizens... thereby giving to all British citizens an opportunity to voice their opinion." No further information was provided about the legislative tool which could potentially support this initiative, and enable EU citizens outside the UK to overturn the sovereign Brexit decision by the British people or compel them to change their minds. The conditions for admissibility of a European Citizens' Initiative are that the proposed action does not manifestly fall outside the framework of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act, that it is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious and that it is not manifestly contrary to the values of the Union. While the Commission regrets the decision of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union, there is no legal basis in the Treaties which would allow for the adoption of an EU legal act challenging or overturning the UK's decision to withdraw from the Union. As such, the College has no legal basis to register this proposed Initiative.

The European Commission has today decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled 'We are a welcoming Europe, let us help!' which states: "Governments are struggling to handle migration. Most of us want to help people in need because we care. Millions have stood up to help. Now we want to be heard. Let's reclaim a Welcoming Europe! We call upon the European Commission to act." The organisers call on the Commission to "support local groups that help refugees… stop governments punishing volunteers… defend victims of exploitation, crime and human rights abuses" (see Annex).

The Commission's decision to register the Initiative concerns only the legal admissibility of the proposal. The Commission has not analysed the substance at this stage.

The European Commission has adopted the Communication in response to the fourth successful European Citizens' Initiative, "Ban glyphosate" and announces more transparency in scientific assessments.

In responding to the European Citizens' Initiative, the European Commission addresses the concerns of EU citizens and announces measures to make the process to authorise, restrict or ban the use of pesticides more transparent in the future.

Today's Communication sets out the way forward:

• In replying to the Citizens' Initiative, it provides a detailed explanation of EU rules on pesticides;
• It announces a legislative proposal for spring 2018 to enhance the transparency, quality and independence of scientific assessments of substances, such as public access to raw data, and;
• It announces future amendments to the legislation to strengthen the governance of the conduct of relevant studies, which could include for example the involvement of public authorities in the process of deciding which studies need to be conducted for a specific case.

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "It's great that well over a million EU citizens have invested their time to engage directly on an issue that matters. The Commission has listened and will now act. We need more transparency about how decisions are made in this area. Next spring the Commission will also deliver proposals on drinking water we promised in response to another successful Initiative. In sum, I am a strong supporter of the right of citizens to engage in this manner and am pressing the Parliament and Council to make speedy progress on our proposals to make it easier for European Citizens' Initiatives to be successful in the future."

Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: "From the beginning of my mandate I have been a strong supporter of increased transparency in decision-making as well as in the terms of access to the scientific studies underlying the approval of active substances. I will put forward a proposal to address these issues by spring 2018. However it is equally important that Member States assume their responsibility when it comes to the authorisation of pesticides in their own markets. They must also ensure that pesticides are used sustainably and in full compliance with label requirements. Transparency, independence, and sustainable use of pesticides are our objectives. They should underpin our work and this is where my focus will be".

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Commissioner for Health & Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis received the organisers of the 'Stop Glyphosate' European Citizens' Initiative, after they collected and submitted to the Commission over 1 million signatures in support of their Initiative. This is the 4th successful European Citizens' Initiative so far. The 'Stop Glyphosate' Initiative calls on the European Commission "to propose to member states a ban on glyphosate, to reform the pesticide approval procedure, and to set EU-wide mandatory reduction targets for pesticide use". In line with the Citizens' Initiative regulation, the Commission has invited the organisers to Brussels to present their ideas in more depth. A public hearing will also be arranged in the European Parliament to allow all stakeholders to present their views, and then the Commission will decide, within 3 months of submission of the Initiative, whether to act by proposing legislation, act in some other way to achieve the goals of the Initiative, or not act at all; all three options are possible under Article 11(4) of the Treaty of the European Union. In all cases, the Commission will present a Communication explaining its reasoning.