On 22 February the Commission registered a European citizens' initiative titled ‘Ensuring a dignified reception of migrants in Europe'. 

It calls for developing a new system for the distribution of asylum seekers throughout the EU, based on their free will, while ensuring effective solidarity between Member States. It also calls for binding reception standards guaranteeing dignified living conditions for asylum seekers across the EU, for example in terms of food, health, housing, education and work.

This is the second initiative registered in 2023. Its organisers have six months now to choose the moment to start the collection of support.

This webinar will provide current and potential ECI organisers with practical information and guidance on collecting signatures online for European citizens’ initiatives, with a focus on the Central Online Collection System.

It will feature a Commission’s IT expert and an organiser of a successful citizens’ initiative.

More information and registration for this webinar (held on 14 March, in English only)  can be found on the ECI Forum.

On 6 February, the organisers of the ‘Stop Finning - Stop the Trade' initiative met with Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, to present their ideas in more depth. 

‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without animal testing’ initiative has reached 1,217,916 validated statements of support from EU citizens, with thresholds attained in 21 countries and was submitted to the European Commission for examination on 25 January 2023. It has become the ninth successful European Citizens' Initiative (ECI).

The initiative calls on the Commission to initiate legislation, strengthen and broaden the existing EU bans on animal testing for cosmetics and the marketing of ingredients tested on animals, as well as to adopt a legislative proposal setting out a roadmap to phase out all animal testing before the end of Commission’s current mandate.

The Commission will meet its organisers to discuss the initiative in detail in the next weeks. A public hearing will then be organised by the European Parliament. The Commission has until 25 July 2023 to present its official reply, outlining the actions it intends to take.

On 24 January, the European Commission presented 'A New Deal for Pollinators' to tackle the alarming decline in wild pollinating insects in Europe, revising the 2018 EU Pollinators Initiative. Citizens have been increasingly calling for decisive action against pollinator loss, also through the recent successful European Citizens' Initiative ‘Save Bees and Farmers'. 

The European Parliament will hold a public hearing on the seventh successful European Citizens’ Initiative Save Bees and Farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment on 24 January from 2.30 to 6.30 p.m. The organisers will present the initiative's objectives and engage with Members of the European Parliament. European Commission's representatives will also participate.

The meeting is webstreamed.

As of today, Europeans can be confident that the quality of the water they drink meets the highest standards, as new requirements from the revised Drinking Water Directive are becoming the norm across the EU. This revision responded to the first-ever successful European Citizens' Initiative, ‘Right2Water', which gathered 1.6 million signatures in support of improving access to safe drinking water for all Europeans.

On 12 January 2023 the Commission registered a European citizens' initiative entitled "Article 4: Stop torture and inhuman treatment at Europe’s borders".

It calls for for a framework for ensuring compliance with the prohibition of violence and inhuman and degrading treatments enshrined in Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in relation to the Union policies concerning border controls, asylum and immigration.

This is the first initiative registered in 2023. Its organisers have six months now to choose the moment to start the collection of support.

'Stop Finning - Stop the Trade'  has reached 1,119,996 validated statements of support from EU citizens, with thresholds attained in 15 countries and was submitted to the European Commission for examination on 11 January 2023. It has become the eighth successful European Citizens' Initiative (ECI).

The initiative calls on the Commission to propose legal measures to to end the trade of shark fins in the EU including the import, export and transit of fins other than if naturally attached to the animal’s body.

The Commission will meet its organisers to discuss the initiative in detail in the next weeks. A public hearing will then be organised by the European Parliament. The Commission has until 11 July 2023 to present its official reply, outlining the actions it intends to take.

Thanks to an amendment to the national provisions on European citizens’ initiative, applying as of 1 January 2023, German citizens can support European citizens’ initiatives from age 16.

Germany is the sixth country to lower the age to support ECIs below 18.