Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Brussels says first ever citizens' petition does not count

  • MEPs in the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee unanimously approved a report on the initiative (Photo: European Parliament)

The entry into force of the EU's new citizens' initiative (ECI) - a petition procedure under the Lisbon Treaty allowing European citizens to demand action in a particular area - is likely to be welcomed by a legal battle between Greenpeace and the EU institutions.

The environmental NGO has successfully collected the required 1 million signatories in a petition calling on the EU to ban GMOs, but officials from both the European Commission and the European Parliament say the move is premature.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"We've always said that we take their opinion very seriously but it's not an ECI as the legislation is not yet in place," Michael Mann, the commission's administration spokesman, told this website on Tuesday (30 November).

"Strictly speaking, they would have to do it all over again," he added. "The Greenpeace view that the petition counts as the Lisbon Treaty is in place doesn't stand up to legal scrutiny."

A European Parliament official concurred. "We may end up going to court on this," the contact said.

Greenpeace argues the Lisbon Treaty's coming into force on 1 December 2009 makes their petition over the controversial GMO issue legitimate. "We disagree with the commission and we have a legal opinion to back this up," said the group's communications officer, Jack Hunter. "It would be political madness to ignore the petition, especially after such a low turnout in the last European elections," he added.

The dispute comes as MEPs in the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee made a fresh push on Tuesday to alter the draft legislation setting up the citizens' initiative, unanimously approving a report on the subject.

Changes include an earlier check on the admissibility of an ECI, rather than after 300,000 votes have been collected as originally proposed by the commission in spring. If MEPs get their way, a check will be carried out as soon as a particular initiative is registered with the commission.

Member states themselves have called for the threshold to be lowered to 100,000 signatures.

Once an initiative is registered, MEPs say signatories on a petition should come from at least one fifth of EU member states, a lower threshold than the one third proposed by the commission and backed by member states.

A meeting between the three institutions on Tuesday evening is likely to settle on a one fourth compromise, say EU sources.

MEPs also sought to simplify the signing of petition initiatives by deleting a requirement to give an ID card number, arguing that a name, address, nationality and the date and place of birth should be enough. A number of member states have called for ID numbers to be included.

The organisers of any initiative that manages to collect the required 1 million votes within the 12-month time period should then be invited to a public hearing by the commission and the parliament, said the MEPs.

"We decided that it's not enough for the commission to just send a letter saying 'Yes' or 'No'," said Green MEP Gerald Hafner, one of the report's authors.

Asked whether the initiative could be hijacked by extremist groups, centre-right MEP Alain Lamassoure said: "The time is always right to introduce more democracy into the system." The process will be positive, even is used by political parties, lobbyists, euro-sceptics, he argued, so long as it is transparent.

If the two sides manage to reach an agreement, ambassadors from member states will give their approval to the citizens' initiative on 9 December, allowing the fully plenary of MEPs to vote on 16 December. A few months will then be required for the procedure to be fully put in place.

Finnish PM: Russia preparing for 'long conflict with West'

Finland, which shares a border with Russia, has cautioned about the danger of a Russian attack in coming years. Russia is not "invincible" but "self-satisfaction is no longer an option," Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said.

EU Commission proposes opening Bosnia accession talks

Eight years on, the EU Commission is to recommend on Tuesday that member states open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country took "impressive steps" to meet the bloc's standards, Ursula von der Leyen said.

Opinion

How the EU can raise its game in the Middle East

Could the EU repair its reputation and credibility by taking action on Gaza? EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have worked hard to repair the damage, but have faced political headwinds due to internal divisions.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us