Today, the European Commission decided to register two European Citizens' Initiatives, entitled 'Air-Quotas' and 'Stop Destroying Videogames'.
The 'Air-Quotas' initiative calls for the Commission to establish a citizens' carbon quota mechanism in each country that will encourage businesses to decarbonise through consumer demand. The organisers consider that this new mechanism should cover all purchases of goods and services, starting with air transport.
The organisers of the 'Stop Destroying Videogames' initiative call for the Commission to introduce a requirement for publishers selling or licensing videogames in the EU to leave such games in a functional (playable) state, so to prevent publishers from remotely disabling videogames.
Both European Citizens' Initiatives fulfil the formal conditions established in the relevant legislation. The Commission therefore considers that they are legally admissible. The Commission has not analysed the substance of the proposals at this stage.
The decision to register an initiative is based on a legal analysis of its admissibility under the European Citizens' Initiative Regulation. It does not prejudge the legal and political conclusions of the Commission on these initiatives and the action it would take, if any, in case any of these initiatives obtains the necessary support of at least one million EU citizens.
The content of the initiative only expresses the views of the group of organisers, and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Commission.
Next Steps
Following today's registration, the organisers have six months to open the signature collection. If a European Citizens' Initiative receives one million statements of support within one year with minimum numbers reached in at least seven different Member States, the Commission will have to react. The Commission will have to decide whether or not it will take action in response to the request, and will be required to explain its reasoning.
Background
The European Citizens' Initiative was introduced with the Lisbon Treaty as an agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens. It was officially launched in April 2012. Once formally registered, a European Citizens' Initiative allows one million citizens from at least seven EU Member States to invite the European Commission to propose legal acts in areas where it has the power to act. The conditions for admissibility are: (1) the proposed action does not manifestly fall outside the framework of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act, (2) it is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious and (3) it is not manifestly contrary to the values of the Union.
Since the beginning of the European Citizens' Initiative, the Commission has registered 114 initiatives.
