CONSULTATION HAS begun on an initiative to allow EU citizens to directly petition the European Commission on its policies.
The Citizens’ Initiative, introduced under the Lisbon Treaty, means the commission can be directly lobbied if one million EU citizens sign a petition.
The commission can be directly requested to develop a policy in any area of EU interest.
The practicalities of how the initiative will operate have not yet been decided and an online consultation forum has been developed.
The site raises questions such as how many countries will need to be involved for a petition to be accepted, how signatures can be verified and what form a petition should take. The deadline for feedback is the end of the month. For further information visit euireland.ie/citizensinitiative.
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