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Minister for European Affairs welcomes European Citizens’ Initiative

The Minister for European Affairs, Ms Lucinda Creighton, TD, today welcomed the introduction of the European Citizens’ Initiative which comes into effect on Sunday.

Commenting on the proposal, the Minister said that ‘

This initiative gives citizens a new opportunity to influence the EU agenda and brings participatory democracy to the heart of European policy making.  It provides a direct form of interaction with the European Commission and brings a new level of accountability to its work.’

The Minister said that she would encourage all EU citizens resident in Ireland to participate in this process which allows them to make proposals to the European Commission.

The Minister added that she was

‘happy that the process has been made as user-friendly as possible herein Ireland. People can support an initiative either online or on paper, providing just their name, address, date and place of birth. I am really pleased that we have taken a user-friendly, non-bureaucratic approach to the ECI’.

Details on how to become involved are available at

www.merrionstreet.ie

Notes for editors

The European Citizens’ Initiative is one of the reforms introduced under the Lisbon Treaty and comes into effect from 1

st

April. Anyone wishing to organise a citizens’ initiative will be required to set up a committee of at least 7 persons who are residents of at least 7 Member States. The Committee will be required to register the proposed initiative with the European Commission before they can ask members of the public to support it. Once registered, organisers will then have a period of 12 months in which to collect the 1 million statements of support, which can be collected online or in paper format. The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government is the competent authority in Ireland, both for the certification of online collection systems and the verification of statements of support.

Helpful link

http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/welcome

- European Citizens Initiative Official Register