PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files

Europaudvalget 2013-14
EUU Alm.del Bilag 292
Offentligt

MAROŠ ŠEFČOVIČ

VICE-PRESIDENT O F THE EUROPEAN C O M M I S S I O N

Brussels, 16 January 2014

ARES(2014)

/S3 66Ô

Dear Minister,

Thank you for your letter dated 12 December 2013 expressing your concern as regards the need

for improving guidance to citizens on the registration of European Citizens' Initiatives.

Many proposed initiatives have to be refused because the legal criteria set out in Article 4(2) of

the Regulation on the citizens' initiative

(hereinafter: the "Regulation") are not fulfilled. The

Commission has been fully committed to provide guidance to organisers, within the legal

framework provided by the Regulation.

For instance, the Commission website for the citizens' initiative provides extensive information

on the registration criteria, in particular on the Commission's powers

. The Commission also

publishes the refusal letters sent to the organisers whose proposed initiatives did not comply

with the registration criteria

In addition, in line with the Regulation, the Commission has established a point of contact for

information and assistance. This point of contact is based on Europe Direct, a service which

answers questions in all official EU languages via email, telephone and chat. Europe Direct is

supported by the Commission services, which are consulted on the complex questions that

cannot be answered directly. This type of consultation often takes place for questions related to

the registration criteria set out in the Regulation, in particular the ones related to the

Commission's powers.

In your letter you suggest that the Commission provide more elaborate answers to refused

registration requests, including, if possible, an assessment of which parts of the initiative in

question may fall within or outside the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act.

Nick Hækkerup

Minister for Trade and European Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Asiatisk Plads 2

DK-1448 Copenhagen K

Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 on the citizens' initiative

http://cc.europa.eu/citizcns-initiative/public/competences; http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-

initiative/public/competences/ľaq

http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/non-registered

PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files

It is important to note that Commission answers are legal decisions adopted in accordance with

Article 4(3) of the Regulation. As required by the Regulation, the letters should provide grounds

for the refusal of registration and identify the possible judicial and extrajudicial remedies

available to the organisers. It would not be appropriate to provide guidance to organisers in this

context.

In line with the registration criteria, if a proposed citizens' initiative aims at the adoption of

several legal acts (or of one legal act including several distinct components), it cannot be

registered if one of these legal acts (or components) does not fulfil the criteria. The Commission

is not required to respond to whether or to what extent the other components of the proposed

initiative meet these criteria.

The said Regulation does not allow for the registration of only one or several parts of a proposed

initiative. This legal situation reflects the need for the Commission to respect the autonomous

will of the organisers of a proposed citizens' initiative. The latter would be disregarded if the

Commission were entitled to modify the content of a proposed initiative on its own initiative by

registering only one or several parts thereof.

More generally, when providing guidance to organisers on the registration criteria, the

Commission may give indications on the existence or not of a legal basis in the EU Treaties. It

must refrain from advising on the wording of the proposed initiative. This must fully remain in

the hands of the organisers.

Please be assured that we will continue to work on improving the guidance provided to

organisers and on informing the citizens about the means available to them when preparing a

citizens' initiative, so that citizens can fully exploit the opportunities offered by this participatory

democracy instrument.

Yours sincerely.