The proposal on the European Citizens’ Initiative proposed on 31 March by the European Commission falls short of Europe United’s expectations.
“While Europe United welcomes the proposal’s provision for the on-line gathering of signatures it believes the proposed law contains too many hurdles for most prospective citizens’ initiatives,” says Bengt Beier, Europe United’s President.

“The short timeframe for collecting signatures and the lack of logistic support [by the Commission] will make it impossible for citizens to exercise their newly gained democratic right.
This will favour initiatives with substantial financial support.” The Commission’s right to dismiss certain initiatives due to their lack of seriousness lacks clarity. The Commission’s proposal doesn’t provide clear rules on what is considered serious enough. Europe United believes this ambiguity could lead to too many initiatives being thrown out without justification.


Europe United calls on the European Parliament to substantially bolster the Commission’s proposal by providing greater logistic support to initiatives with translation and legal support. Europe United also feels the proposal needs to be clearer on what will happen with initiatives that do gather the required one million signatures. The European Citizens’
Initiative is a powerful tool that can bring the European Union closer to its citizens. To do so the Commission’s proposal must be substantially improved, baring which the Union risks losing further credibility with its citizens.