Commission registers ‘We are a welcoming Europe, let us help!’ initiative

Further information:

The organisers call on the Commission to 'support local groups that help refugees… stop governments punishing volunteers… defend victims of exploitation, crime and human rights abuses'

The Commission's decision to register the Initiative concerns only the legal admissibility of the proposal. The Commission had not yet analysed the substance at this stage. The registration of this Initiative kicked off a one-year process of collection of signatures of support by its organisers.

Background information:

European Citizens' Initiatives were introduced with the Lisbon Treaty and launched as an agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens in April 2012, upon the entry into force of the European Citizens' Initiative Regulation which implements the Treaty provisions.

Once formally registered, a European Citizens' Initiative allows one million citizens from at least one quarter of EU Member States to invite the European Commission to propose a legal act in areas where the Commission has the power to do so.

+ ESO Key Source: The European Citizens' Initiative

The European Commission decided on 14 February 2018 to register a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) entitled 'We aer a welcoming Europe, let us help!'.

• Primary Source