On 2 March, the European Parliament will hold a public hearing on the 13th successful European citizens' initiative 'Ban on conversion practices in the European Union'.
On 10 February, the Commission partially registered a European Citizens' Initiative entitled ‘EU initiative to protect stray dogs, stray cats and animals in shelters in the EU/non-EU countries’.
The organisers call on the Commission to “strengthen the protection of stray dogs, stray cats and animals in shelters in the EU and to ensure that EU action in third countries does not contribute to animal suffering”.
Some aspects of the organisers’ objectives did not meet the admissibility criteria for registering a citizens’ initiative, therefore the registration was partial. See the Commission decision for more details.
The partial registration followed a two-stage procedure, in which organisers, in a first stage, were invited to amend their initial initiative, taking into account the first assessment of the Commission.
The organisers have six months to open the signature collection.
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.
On 5 January, the European Commission registered a European citizens' initiative entitled ‘Ethics, Transparency and Integrity for European Political Parties’.
The initiative invites the Commission ‘to devise a European model of ethical governance based on transparency, integrity and shared responsibility’. The initiative organisers have six months to open the signature collection.
This is the first initiative registered in 2026, and 125th since 2012.
In line with Article 15 of the ECI Regulation, the organisers of 'Ban on conversion practices in the European Union' were given the opportunity to explain the objectives of their initiative in detail. They were received on 12 December 2025 by Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib and European Commission officials.
On 3 December 2025 the European Commission registered a European citizens' initiative entitled 'No more double standards on human rights'.
It calls for establishing a standardised oversight of human rights across the Commission's areas of competence in its external action with third countries’.
The initiative organisers have six months to open the signature collection.
On 2 December, the European Parliament will hold a public hearing on the twelfth successful European Citizens’ Initiative 'My Voice, My Choice: For Safe And Accessible Abortion'. The organisers have been invited to present the initiative's objectives and engage with Members of the European Parliament. Hadja Lahbib, the Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, will represent the European Commission in this hearing.
On 16 December, Members of the European Parliament will debate the initiative during the plenary session, with the participation of the European Commission. The debate will be followed by a vote on the motions for resolution on this initiative on 17 December.
Both meetings are web streamed and recorded.
On 25 November 2025 the Commission registered two European citizens' initiatives:
The initiative organisers have six months to open the signature collection.
