The Step-by-Step Procedure

  
   


Before starting a citizen initiative, you must be cognizant of respecting its conditions and formal steps. Above all, you must be a citizen of the European Union and of legal voting age, 18 years old (except in Austria, where the voting age is 16).


 

 

  
Next, you must take the following steps:
STEP 1:

Form a citizen committee with at least 7 citizens living in 7 different countries of the EU
undefined

STEP 2:

Register the initiative with the European Commission who will take up to 2 months to approve it
undefined

STEP 3:

Collect signatures (through the internet or on paper) by 1 million citizens of at least ¼ of member states. The committee will have up to a year to collect the signatures.
undefined

STEP 4:

Verification of signatures by the appropriate national authorities
undefined

STEP 5:

The citizen committee presents the initiative to the Commission
undefined

STEP 6:

The Commission examines and responds to the initiative within 3 months