Meeting of State Secretary Olivier Chastel and Vice-president of the AFCO-committee Zita Gurmai on the citizen’s initiative
On July 20, State Secretary for European Affairs Olivier Chastel welcomed the Vice-president of the committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament, Zita Gurmai. In accordance with the Lisbon Treaty, the European parliament and the Council will stipulate the procedures and conditions for the citizen’s initiative. This includes the number of member states in which such an initiative should be submitted.
On June 14, the Council adopted a general orientation, a common ground for the negotiations with the European parliament. "Among other things, we have to look for common ground with the European Parliament, concerning the minimum number of member states from which the signatures should come and their verification", Olivier Chastel told European Deputy Zita Gurmai. As for the threshold for the validity of a citizen’s initiative, the European Parliament prefers 1/4 of the member states, while the Council supports a minimum of 1/3 of the member states. The Council wants to see at least 100.000 signatures, while the European Parliament recommends 5.000 signatures.
According to State Secretary Olivier Chastel, "the Belgian Presidency intends to adopt the decision on the citizen’s initiative before the first anniversary of the Lisbon Treaty". "It is important to shape a useful and accessible instrument for all European citizens", he concluded.
