Commission concludes eligibility checks for two European Citizens’ Initiatives on digital identity and age-verification, and on migration and asylum

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the European Commission concluded the eligibility checks for the registration requests of two European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECIs) entitled: ‘Stop Killing The Internet: No Digital ID & No Age Verification‘ and ‘Save Europe Act‘.

The Commission registered the initiative ‘Stop Killing The Internet: No Digital ID & No Age Verification‘. The organisers ‘call on the European Commission to propose legislation ensuring that digital identity and age-assurance systems used to access online services in the Union remain voluntary, privacy-preserving and non-discriminatory‘. As this initiative fulfils the formal conditions under the European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation, the Commission considers it legally admissible.

The organisers of the initiative now have six months to open the 12-month period of signature collection. The registration does not influence the Commission’s final decision on its merits, or any potential action it may take. The Commission will take a final decision on the initiative only if it collects at least one million valid signatures from EU citizens with minimum numbers reached in at least seven Member States.

The European Citizens Initiative entitled: ‘Save Europe Act‘, calls on the Commission ‘to propose a Union act establishing a temporary moratorium on new non-Western immigration channels, including study and family reunification visas, while fundamentally reforming the EU migration and asylum system‘. The organisers propose to define this moratorium based on ‘ethnic and cultural continuity‘ of ‘native peoples of Europe‘ against what the initiative characterises as ‘demographic replacement‘ by ‘non-Western‘ and ‘non-European‘ migrants.

The Commission concluded that this initiative does not fulfil the formal conditions under the European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation. To fulfil the conditions for registration, a European Citizens’ Initiative cannot be manifestly contrary to the values enshrined under the Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The initiative must contain a genuine proposal, and not be used as a vehicle for offensive or caricatural messages. In addition, it should also not fall outside the Commission’s powers to submit a proposal for a legal act, as conferred on it by the Treaties.

The Commission found that the criteria on which the proposed moratorium would be based would constitutediscrimination grounded on race and ethnic origin. This is because the proposed moratorium would be based on the ethnic, cultural, or civilisational origin of the persons concerned, without regard to the requirement for an individual, case-by-case assessment under the applicable legal framework. As such, this initiative is manifestly contrary to the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and settled case-law. As a result, this initiative cannot be registered.

At this stage, the Commission only assessed whether the two initiatives meet the legal conditions for registration under the European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation. The Commission does not analyse the policy merits of European Citizens Initiative at the stage of the eligibility check.

Background

The ECI was introduced with the Lisbon Treaty as an agenda-setting tool for 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 legal proposal, (2) it is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious and (3) it is not manifestly contrary to the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 TEU and rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The registration of an ECI does not influence the Commission’s final decision on its merits, or any potential action it may take. The Commission will take a decision on the initiative only if it collects at least one million valid signatures from EU citizens.

Since the launch of the European Citizens’ Initiative, the Commission has registered 135 initiatives.

The content of initiatives only expresses the views of their organisers and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Commission.