Op 21 augustus 2020 heeft de Europese Commissie een nieuw burgerinitiatief geregistreerd: Recht op behandeling. De organisatoren van het initiatief hebben nu zes maanden de tijd om te beginnen met het inzamelen van steunbetuigingen van burgers in heel Europa.
De coronapandemie heeft ook gevolgen voor iedereen die een Europees burgerinitiatief organiseert. Op 15 juli 2020 hebben het Europees Parlement en de Raad daarom tijdelijke maatregelen genomen.
De Europese Commissie heeft voorgesteld de termijnen voor het verzamelen en verifiëren van steunbetuigingen en voor het onderzoek door de Commissie te verlengen.
De bedoeling is de termijn van twaalf maanden voor het verzamelen van steunbetuigingen met zes maanden te verlengen voor initiatieven waarvan de verzamelingsperiode al was ingegaan op de dag waarop de WHO COVID-19 tot pandemie uitriep (11 maart 2020).
De nieuwe termijnen gaan in zodra het voorstel door het Europees Parlement en de Raad is aangenomen.
The Commission has registered today, 15 May 2020, a new citizens' initiative: Unconditional Basic Incomes (UBI) throughout the EU. The organisers now have up to 6 months to start the collection of statements of support from citizens across Europe.
The Commission has registered today, 15 May 2020, a new citizens' initiative: Libertà di condividere (Freedom to share). The organisers now have up to 6 months to start the collection of statements of support from citizens across Europe.
The Commission has registered today, 4 March, a new citizens' initiative: 'VOTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, Full Political Rights for EU Citizens.' The organisers of the initiative now have up to 6 months to start the collection of statements of support from citizens.
The citizens' initiative 'Minority SafePack - one million signatures for diversity in Europe' has been submitted today to the Commission for examination, after having collected more than 1,1 million valid statements of support from across the EU.
The organisers will meet with the Commission soon. A public hearing will then be organised by the European Parliament. The Commission has up to 6 months to adopt a formal reply.
A new initiative 'Stop Finning - Stop the trade' was registered on 2 January 2020. This is the first initiative to follow the new rules of the European citizens' initiative that apply since 1 January.
Read the Commission’s press release on this matter.
The organisers of this initiative call on the Commission to ‘propose legal acts to phase out synthetic pesticides by 2035, to restore biodiversity, and to support farmers in the transition'. More specifically, the organisers want to ‘phase out synthetic pesticides in EU agriculture by 80% by 2030, starting with the most hazardous, to become free of synthetic by 2035; restore natural ecosystems in agricultural areas so that farming becomes a vector of biodiversity recovery; reform agriculture by prioritising small scale, diverse and sustainable farming, supporting a rapid increase in agro-ecological and organic practice, and enabling independent farmer-based training and research into pesticide- and GMO-free farming.'
Under the EU Treaties, the European Commission can take legal action in the area of the common agricultural policy and the internal market as well as measures in the veterinary and phytosanitary fields. The Commission therefore considers the initiative legally admissible and has decided to register it.
The organisers of the initiative call on the Commission ‘to strengthen action on the climate emergency in line with the 1.5° warming limit. This means more ambitious climate goals and financial support for climate action'. In particular, the initiative focuses on the need for the EU to ‘adjust its goals (NDC) under the Paris Agreement to an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, to reach net-0 by 2035 and adjust European climate legislation accordingly.' The initiative also refers to the implementation of an EU Border Carbon Adjustment, free trade agreements with partner countries based on Climate Action Tracker and free educational materials on the effects of climate change.
Under the EU Treaties, the European Commission can take legal action with the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment as well as in the area of the common commercial policy. The Commission therefore considers the initiative legally admissible and has decided to register it.
