Regulation (EU) 2019/788 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the European citizens’ initiative

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 24 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee^f1,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions^f2,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure^f3,

Whereas:

The Treaty on European Union (TEU) establishes the citizenship of the Union. The Union's citizens (‘citizens’) are granted the right to approach the Commission directly with a request inviting it to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties, similar to the right conferred on the European Parliament under Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and on the Council under Article 241 TFEU. The European citizens' initiative thus contributes to enhancing the democratic functioning of the Union through the participation of citizens in its democratic and political life. As is apparent from the structure of Article 11 TEU and Article 24 TFEU, the European citizens' initiative should be considered in the context of other means by which citizens may bring certain issues to the attention of institutions of the Union and which consist notably of dialogue with representative associations and civil society, consultations with parties concerned, petitions and applications to the Ombudsman.

Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f4 laid down the rules and procedures for the European citizens' initiative and was complemented by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1179/2011^f5.

In its report on the application of Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 of 31 March 2015, the Commission listed a number of challenges arising in the implementation of that Regulation and made a commitment to analyse further the impact of those issues on the effectiveness of the European citizens' initiative instrument and to improve its functioning.

The European Parliament, in its resolution of 28 October 2015 on the European citizens' initiative^f6 and its own-initiative legislative draft report of 26 June 2017^f7, called on the Commission to review Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1179/2011.

This Regulation aims to make the European citizens' initiative more accessible, less burdensome and easier to use for organisers and supporters, and to strengthen its follow-up in order to achieve its full potential as a tool to foster debate. It should also facilitate the participation of as many citizens as possible in the democratic decision-making process of the Union.

To achieve those objectives, the procedures and conditions required for the European citizens' initiative should be effective, transparent, clear, simple, user-friendly, accessible for persons with disabilities and proportionate to the nature of this instrument. They should strike a judicious balance between rights and obligations and should ensure that valid initiatives receive an appropriate examination and response by the Commission.

It is appropriate to set a minimum age for supporting an initiative. That minimum age should correspond to the age at which citizens are entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament. In order to enhance the participation of young citizens in the democratic life of the Union and thus achieve the full potential of the European citizens' initiative as an instrument of participatory democracy, Member States which consider it appropriate should be able to set the minimum age for supporting an initiative at 16 years and should inform the Commission accordingly. The Commission should periodically review the functioning of the European citizens' initiative, including as regards the minimum age to support initiatives. Member States are encouraged to consider setting the minimum age at 16 years in accordance with their national laws.

In accordance with Article 11(4) TEU, an initiative inviting the Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required to implement the Treaties, is to be taken by not less than one million citizens of the Union who are nationals of a significant number of Member States.

In order to ensure that an initiative is representative of a Union interest while ensuring that the instrument remains easy to use, the minimum number of Member States from which citizens must come should be set at one quarter of Member States.

In order to ensure that an initiative is representative and that the conditions for citizens to support an initiative are similar, it is also appropriate to establish the minimum number of signatories coming from each of those Member States. Those minimum numbers of signatories required in each Member State should be degressively proportional and correspond to the number of Members of the European Parliament elected in each Member State, multiplied by the total number of the Members of the European Parliament.

In order to make European citizens' initiatives more inclusive and visible, organisers can use for their own promotion and communication activities languages other than the official languages of the institutions of the Union which, in accordance with the Member States' constitutional order, have official status in all or part of their territory.

While personal data processed in application of this Regulation might include sensitive data, given the nature of the European citizens' initiative as an instrument of participatory democracy, it is justified to require the provision of personal data to support an initiative and to process such data as far as it is necessary in order to allow statements of support to be verified in accordance with national law and practice.

In order to make the European citizens' initiative more accessible, the Commission should provide information, assistance and practical support to citizens and groups of organisers, in particular on those aspects of this Regulation within its competence. To reinforce this information and assistance, the Commission should also make an online collaborative platform available that provides a dedicated discussion forum and independent support, information and legal advice about the European citizens' initiative. The platform should be open to citizens, groups of organisers, organisations and external experts with experience in organising European citizens' initiatives. The platform should be accessible for persons with disabilities.

In order to allow the groups of organisers to manage their initiative throughout the procedure, the Commission should make an online register for the European citizens' initiative (‘register’) available. To raise awareness and ensure transparency on all the initiatives, the register should comprise a public website providing comprehensive information on the European citizens' initiative in general, as well as up-to-date information on individual initiatives, their status and the declared sources of support and funding on the basis of the information submitted by the group of organisers.

To ensure proximity to citizens and to raise awareness about the European citizens' initiative, Member States should establish one or more contact points in their respective territories to provide citizens with information and assistance regarding the European citizens' initiative. Such information and assistance should concern, in particular, those aspects of this Regulation whose implementation falls under the competence of national authorities in the Member States, or which concern the applicable national law, and for which those authorities are therefore best placed to inform and assist citizens and groups of organisers. Where appropriate, Member States should seek synergies with services that provide support for the use of similar national instruments. The Commission, including its representations in the Member States, should ensure close cooperation with the national contact points on those information and assistance activities, including, where appropriate, communication activities at Union level.

A minimum organised structure is needed in order to launch and manage citizens' initiatives successfully. That structure should take the form of a group of organisers, composed of natural persons resident in at least seven different Member States, in order to encourage the emergence of Union-wide issues and to foster reflection on those issues. For the sake of transparency and smooth and efficient communication, the group of organisers should designate a representative to liaise between the group of organisers and the institutions of the Union throughout the procedure. The group of organisers should have the possibility to create, in accordance with national law, a legal entity to manage an initiative. That legal entity should be considered to be the group of organisers for the purposes of this Regulation.

While liability and penalties in connection with the processing of personal data will remain regulated under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f8, the group of organisers should be jointly and severally liable, in accordance with applicable national law, for any damage that its members cause in the organisation of an initiative by unlawful acts committed intentionally or with serious negligence. Member States should ensure that the group of organisers is subject to appropriate penalties for infringements of this Regulation.

In order to ensure coherence and transparency in relation to initiatives and to avoid a situation where signatures are collected for an initiative which does not comply with the conditions laid down by the Treaties and this Regulation, initiatives that comply with the conditions laid down in this Regulation should be registered by the Commission before starting to collect statements of support from citizens. The Commission should, when dealing with registration, fully respect the obligation to state reasons under the second paragraph of Article 296 TFEU and the general principle of good administration as set out in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

In order to make the European citizens' initiative effective and more accessible, taking into account that the procedures and conditions required for the European citizens' initiative need to be clear, simple, user-friendly and proportionate, and in order to ensure that as many initiatives as possible are registered, it is appropriate to partially register an initiative in cases where only part or parts of the initiative meet the requirements for registration under this Regulation. Initiatives should be partially registered provided that a part of the initiative, including its main objectives, does not manifestly fall outside the framework of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties and all the other registration requirements are met. Clarity and transparency should be ensured as regards the scope of the partial registration, and potential signatories should be informed of the scope of the registration and of the fact that statements of support are being collected only in relation to the scope of the registration of the initiative. The Commission should inform the group of organisers in a sufficiently detailed manner of the reasons for its decision not to register or to register an initiative only partially, and of all possible judicial and extrajudicial remedies available to it.

Statements of support for an initiative should be collected within a specific time limit. In order to ensure that an initiative remains relevant, whilst taking into account the complexity of collecting statements of support across the Union, that time limit should not be longer than 12 months from the date of the start of the collection period determined by the group of organisers. The group of organisers should have the possibility to choose the start date of the collection period within six months from the registration of the initiative. The group of organisers should inform the Commission of the date chosen at the latest 10 working days before that date. To ensure coordination with the national authorities, the Commission should inform the Member States of the date communicated by the group of organisers.

In order to make the European citizens' initiative more accessible, less burdensome and easier to use for organisers and citizens, the Commission should set up and operate a central system for the online collection of statements of support. That system should be made available free of charge to groups of organisers and should comprise the necessary technical features enabling online collection, including the hosting and software, as well as accessibility features ensuring that citizens with disabilities can provide support to the initiatives. That system should be set up and maintained in accordance with Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46^f9.

Citizens should have the possibility of supporting initiatives online or in paper form by providing only the personal data set out in Annex III of this Regulation. Member States should inform the Commission as to whether they wish to be included in part A or B, respectively, of Annex III. Citizens using the central online collection system for the European citizens' initiative should be able to support an initiative online by using notified electronic identification means or by signing with an electronic signature within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f10. To this end, the Commission and the Member States should implement the relevant technical features within the framework of that Regulation. Citizens should sign a statement of support only once.

To facilitate the transition to the new central online collection system, a group of organisers should continue to have the possibility to set up its own online collection system and to collect statements of support through this system for initiatives registered in accordance with this Regulation by 31 December 2022. The group of organisers should use a single individual online collection system for each initiative. Individual online collection systems set up and operated by a group of organisers should have adequate technical and security features in order to ensure that the data are securely collected, stored and transferred throughout the procedure. For that purpose, the Commission should set out detailed technical specifications for the individual online collection systems, in cooperation with the Member States. It should be possible for the Commission to seek the advice of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA), which assists the Union institutions in developing and implementing policies related to security of network and information systems.

It is appropriate for Member States to verify the conformity of the individual online collection systems set up by the group of organisers with the requirements of this Regulation and to issue a document certifying such conformity before statements of support are collected. The certification of the individual online collection systems should be carried out by the competent national authority of the Member States in which the data collected through the individual online collection system is stored. Without prejudice to the powers of the national supervisory authorities under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Member States should designate the competent national authority responsible for the certification of the systems. Member States should mutually recognise the certificates issued by their competent authorities.

Where an initiative has received the necessary statements of support from signatories, each Member State should be responsible for the verification and certification of statements of support signed by its nationals, in order to assess whether the required minimum numbers of signatories having the right to support a European citizens' initiative have been reached. Taking the need to limit the administrative burden for Member States into account, such verifications should be carried out on the basis of appropriate checks, which may be based on random sampling. Member States should issue a document certifying the number of valid statements of support received.

In order to promote participation and public debate on the issues raised by the initiatives, where an initiative supported by the required number of signatories and fulfilling the other requirements of this Regulation is submitted to the Commission, the group of organisers should have the right to present that initiative at a public hearing at Union level. The European Parliament should organise the public hearing within three months of the submission of the initiative to the Commission. The European Parliament should ensure a balanced representation of the interests of relevant stakeholders, including civil society, social partners, and experts. The Commission should be represented at an appropriate level. The Council, other institutions and advisory bodies of the Union, as well as interested stakeholders, should have the opportunity to participate in the hearing in order to guarantee its inclusive character and further its public interest.

The European Parliament, as the institution in which the citizens are directly represented at Union level, should be entitled to assess the support for a valid initiative after its submission and following a public hearing on it. The European Parliament should be also able to assess the actions taken by the Commission in response to the initiative and outlined in a communication.

To ensure the effective participation of citizens in the democratic life of the Union, the Commission should examine a valid initiative and respond to it. The Commission should therefore set out its legal and political conclusions as well as the action that it intends to take within a period of six months from the receipt of the initiative. The Commission should explain in a clear, comprehensible and detailed manner the reasons for its intended action, including whether it will adopt a proposal for a legal act of the Union in response to the initiative, and should likewise give its reasons if it does not intend to take any action. The Commission should examine initiatives in accordance with the general principles of good administration as set out in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

In order to ensure transparency of its funding and support, the group of organisers should provide regularly updated and detailed information on the sources of funding and support for its initiatives between the date of registration and the date at which the initiative is submitted to the Commission. This information should be made public in the register and on the public website on the European citizens' initiative. The declaration of sources of funding and support by the group of organisers should include information on financial support exceeding EUR 500 per sponsor, as well as on organisations assisting the group of organisers, on a voluntary basis, where such support is not economically quantifiable. Entities, notably organisations which under the Treaties contribute to forming European political awareness and expressing the will of citizens of the Union, should be able to promote and provide funding and support to initiatives, provided that they do so in accordance with the procedures and conditions laid down by this Regulation.

To ensure full transparency, the Commission should make a contact form available, in the register and on the public website on the European citizens' initiative, to enable citizens to submit a complaint relating to the completeness and correctness of the information on sources of funding and support as declared by the groups of organisers. The Commission should be entitled to request from the group of organisers any additional information in relation to the complaints and, where necessary, to update the information, in the register, on the declared sources of funding and support.

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 applies to the processing of personal data carried out under this Regulation. In that respect, for the sake of legal certainty, it is appropriate to clarify that the representative of the group of organisers or, where applicable, the legal entity created for the purpose of managing the initiative, and the competent authorities of the Member States are to be considered to be the data controllers within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 in relation to the processing of personal data when collecting statements of support, email addresses and data on the sponsors of the initiatives, and for the purposes of verification and certification of statements of support, and to specify the maximum period within which the personal data collected for the purposes of an initiative can be retained. In their capacity as data controllers, the representative of the group of organisers or, where applicable, the legal entity created for the purpose of managing the initiative, and the competent authorities of the Member States should take all appropriate measures to comply with the obligations imposed by Regulation (EU) 2016/679, in particular those relating to the lawfulness of the processing and the security of the processing activities, the provision of information and the rights of data subjects.

Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f11 applies to the processing of personal data carried out by the Commission in application of this Regulation. It is appropriate to clarify that the Commission is to be considered the data controller within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 in relation to the processing of personal data in the register, the online collaborative platform, the central online collection system and the collection of email addresses. The central online collection system allowing the groups of organisers to collect statements of support for their initiatives online should be set up and operated by the Commission in accordance with this Regulation. The Commission and the representative of the group of organisers or, where applicable, the legal entity created for the purpose of managing the initiative should be joint controllers within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 in relation to the processing of personal data in the central online collection system.

In order to contribute to the promotion of active participation of citizens in the political life of the Union, the Commission should raise public awareness about the European citizens' initiative, making particular use of digital technologies and social media, and in the framework of actions to promote Union citizenship and citizens' rights. The European Parliament should contribute to the communication activities of the Commission.

In order to facilitate communication with the signatories and to inform them about the follow-up actions in response to an initiative, the Commission and the group of organisers should be able to collect, in accordance with data protection rules, email addresses of signatories. The collection of email addresses should be optional and subject to the explicit consent of signatories. Email addresses should not be collected as part of the statements of support forms and potential signatories should be informed that their right to support an initiative is not conditional on giving their consent to collecting their email addresses.

In order to adapt this Regulation to future needs, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the amendment of the Annexes to this Regulation. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making^f12. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission, in particular for laying down the technical specifications for online collection systems in compliance with this Regulation. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f13.

In accordance with the principle of proportionality, it is necessary and appropriate for the achievement of the basic objective of enhancing the participation of citizens in the democratic and political life of the Union to lay down rules on the European citizens' initiative. This Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objective pursued, in accordance with Article 5(4) TEU.

This Regulation respects fundamental rights and observes the principles enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

For reasons of legal certainty and clarity, Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 should be repealed.

The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 28(2) of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f14 and delivered formal comments on 19 December 2017,

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