• EU citizens have had the right to apply directly to the European Commission with a European Citizens’ Initiative in order to propose a concrete legislative amendment and therefore aims to enhance direct democracy by enabling “EU citizens to participate directly in EU policy-making

• To do this, a citizens’ committee must first be set up, consisting of at least seven members* from at least seven different EU countries. After successful assessment of the initiative by the European Commission, the Citizens’ Committee has one year to collect signatures.

• A total of at least one million signatures must be collected, and the minimum number of signatures must be reached in at least a quarter of the EU states, currently seven EU states. The required minimum number is about 750 times the number of members of the European Parliament of this country – in Germany, for example, 72,000 signatures are required.

• The minimum number of signatures required for each EU Member State can be found in the Official Register of the European Commission. It can be signed either in writing or online.

• If the required number of signatures is reached within the period, the European Commission is obliged to react and the Citizens’ Committee can present its initiative at a public hearing in the European Parliament. Within three months, the European Commission will respond on how they plan to proceed. At best, this will lead to the adoption of the proposal and a legislative amendment. However, the European Commission may also reject the citizens’ initiative and state its reasons for so doing.

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