European Citizens’ Initiative

An initiative begins when a group of at least seven EU citizens from seven different Member States forms an organising committee and registers the initiative in the EU’s official system. Once registered, the organisers launch a public campaign to collect support. Over a period of twelve months, they must gather at least one million valid signatures from EU citizens, reaching minimum thresholds in a sufficient number of Member States. The collected statements of support are then submitted to national authorities for verification. After successful verification, the initiative is formally submitted to the European Commission. The organisers are invited to present their initiative in meetings with the Commission and at a public hearing in the European Parliament, after which the Commission issues a formal response explaining what action it intends to take, if any.