10 years of the European Citizens' Initiative

So far, six initiatives successfully reached the threshold of one million supporters and four more are on the way to doing so. Three initiatives have prompted changes in EU law. Others helped to steer the policies, including at national level. The new rules in response to ‘Right to Water' and ‘Ban Glyphosate' are in place since 2021, while a legislative proposal in response to the ‘End the Cage Age' initiative will be put forward by the Commission in 2023. On this occasion, Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová said: “Over the past 10 years, the European Citizens' Initiative has been a key element of the European participatory democracy, allowing EU citizens to raise awareness about issues they care about and bring them to the attention of policy makers. We listen carefully to the voice of the citizens, we have changed EU laws and will continue to do so. The future looks promising with four initiatives on the way to securing 1 million signatures. We will also continue our work to make this unique tool of participatory democracy better known to all our citizens.” Celebrating the anniversary Vice-President Dubravka Šuica will participate tomorrow in a high-level debate on ‘The European Citizens' Initiative 10 years on: Ready for the future?' at the European Economic and Social Committee. There are currently 17 European citizens' initiatives collecting signatures and four more are on the way to securing one million support. The ECIs call for EU action in areas ranging from animal rights, sports, taxation of green products and services, environment, health, and trade policy.