During the European Year of Youth, the ECI Forum will connect with young Europeans!
In the spring of 2022, the ECI Forum explains the basics on the European Citizens' initiative and the opportunities provided by the Forum. The first sessions are offered to students of the Babes-Bolyai University (Romania), University of Wroclaw (Poland), Leiden University (Netherlands), and Universidade Lusófona (Portugal).
On 2 February 2022 the Commission registered a European citizens' initiative entitled ‘Win It On The Pitch’. Its organisers of the initiative call on the Commission to protect the European model of sport, which is based on values, solidarity, sustainability and open competition.
This is the first initiative registered in 2022, and the 17th initiative since the new rules on the European citizens’ initiative started to apply on 1 January 2020. Its organisers have six months now to chose the moment to start the collection of support.
New or updated communication materials explaining the European Citizens’ Initiative have been uploaded on the ‘Spread the Word’ page.
Factsheets, social media posts, visuals, videos and more are ready for reuse in 24 languages.
A new version of the ECI Central Online Collection System (COCS) application has been released recently. It includes the brand-new EU Captcha (security module for checking whether the user is human) which is open source, multilingual and GDPR-compliant.
The new COCS also offers initiative organisers detailed statistics on the use of the system for the collection of signatures. The majority of open initiatives use COCS, and all new initiatives registered from 1 January 2023 will be required to use it.
The fifth episode of the podcast series on the European Citizens’ Initiative, CitizenCentral, is now live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and SoundCloud.
In this episode, entitled 'Conscious consumers – meet Europeans fighting climate change in creative ways', the featured ongoing ECIs are Ban Fossil Fuel Ads and European EcoScore. You can also hear from experts and activists in relevant fields.
Today, the Commission decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled ‘The Green VAT - An EU Green VAT to stimulate sustainable and eco-friendly products and services’. The organisers of the initiative call on the Commission to propose a legal act with the aim of ‘reducing the VAT rate for green products and services’.
Also today, the Commission had to refuse the registration of the ‘EVE initiative for the creation of the right to decide’. This refusal, first since the introduction of the new rules in January 2020, followed on a two-stage procedure. At the first stage, the organisers were invited to amend their initial initiative, taking into account the first assessment of the Commission.
The fourth episode of the podcast series on the European Citizens’ Initiative, CitizenCentral, is now live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and SoundCloud.
In this episode, related to fundamental and social rights, the featured ongoing ECIs are Civil society initiative for a ban on biometric mass surveillance practices and Start Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) throughout the EU. You can also hear from a technology ethics and rights specialist, an investigative journalist and a Future of Work expert.
Workshop for (potential) organisers of European citizens’ initiatives, to discover how to find funds for the initiative, how to report donations and to gather tips for fundraising strategy.
Workshop organised by Democracy International, under subcontract of the European Commission.
10 November, 14:00-16:30 CET. Register here.
The third episode of the new podcast series on the European Citizens’ Initiative, CitizenCentral, is now live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and SoundCloud.
In this episode, covering environmental topics on land and in the sea, two ongoing ECIs are featured: ‘Stop Finning – Stop the Trade’ and ‘Green Garden Roof Tops’. You can also hear from a representative of a closed initiative ‘Grow Scientific Progress: crops matter’ or marine biologists.
The Commission has registered today a new European citizens' initiative, entitled ‘Call to Action – Environmental protection in all policies'.
This is the tenth new initiative registered in 2021. Its organisers have six months now to chose the moment to start the collection of support.
