THE EUROPEAN Commission has called on EU governments and MEPs to adopt plans by the end of this year that would oblige the EU executive to take account of a demand for a new law if urged to do so by more than a million citizens of the union.
The plan was embraced in the Lisbon Treaty, although the pact itself provided few details as to how it would operate in principle.
Publishing its formal proposals yesterday, the commission said it hoped the first initiatives could be brought forward next year.
Although the proposals would allow at least one million citizens from at least one-third of EU member states to invite the European Commission to bring forward legislative proposals in areas where the commission has the power to do so, the commission would be under no obligation to comply.
Officials say one of trickiest aspects of the plan would be to ensure that proposed initiatives fall within the commission’s purview, which may mean that a large number of proposals are deemed void.
The proposal unveiled by administration commissioner Maros Sefcovic and citizenship commissioner Viviane Reding suggests that the commission would examine whether the initiative is admissible after 300,000 signatures have been gathered from three member states.
The commission would then have two months to decide if the initiative fell within its powers and was in an area where legislation was possible.
The proposal sets out how many signatures must be gathered from each country – 9,000 in the case of Ireland – and sets a time limit of one year to collect signatures. It then gives the commission four months to examine an initiative and decide how to act on it.
“The proposal deals with a range of important issues which need to be considered carefully. We hope that we can finalise the regulation promptly so that people can use this new instrument to make their voices heard directly by the European Commission,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin.
The minimum number of signatures required would be calculated by multiplying the number of members of the European Parliament from that country – 12 in Ireland’s case – by a factor of 750.
The minimum age for signatories would be the age at which people are entitled to vote in the European Parliament elections, the commission said.
“Proposed initiatives must be registered on an online register made available by the commission – registration can be refused if the initiative is manifestly against the fundamental values of the EU.
“There are no restrictions as to how statements of support should be collected, but national authorities would have to check whether online collection systems comply with certain security and technical requirements and this verification must be done within three months.
“The organisers would have one year to collect the necessary signatures,” it said.
Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa called for the swift adoption of the proposals but expressed disappointment that the commission was adhering to the idea that the million signatures must come from at least one-third of the number of member states rather than one-quarter, as his party had suggested.