Brussels 28/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - In Luxembourg on Monday 26 April, the General Affairs Council held an orientation debate on the proposal to put in place the citizens' initiative. The debate revealed that the initiative, introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, enjoyed general backing, while highlighting a number of the areas of greater contention already flagged up during preparatory discussions (see EUROPE 10125). The Spanish Presidency asked the COREPER (the Committee of member states' Permanent Representatives to the EU) and the Council working group to continue discussions on the draft regulation so that a general approach may be set out at the General Affairs Council on 14 June, before the European Council.
The Commission proposal provides for a decision on whether an initiative is admissible being taken at an intermediary point in the proceedings - once at least 300,000 signatures have been gathered from three countries - even before member states are required to begin their checks. A number of member states, including France, Germany and Italy, say that the Commission should establish whether an initiative falls within its area of competence when it is registered, even before the start of signature gathering.
To determine the minimum number of signatories required per member state, the Commission has opted for an approach which uses a formula similar to the one which determines how many MEPs each country should have. Some member states are concerned about the system proposed. Romania and the Netherlands, for example, have recommended that there should be a higher threshold. Luxembourg and Belgium have suggested a formula with a threshold that would depend on the number of countries involved in the citizens' initiative. Under this system, the threshold would be 0.2 if all EU countries were involved, rising to a maximum of 0.6 as the number of countries involved diminishes. There are concerns, too, about procedures and conditions for gathering statements of support, with some member states worried that, in the Commission proposal, signatories would be able to choose from among a number of different identity documents (passport, identity card or social security number). This would pose problems in terms of data protection. A further matter of debate is whether member states should check the authenticity of the signature or simply verify the signatories' identification information. The Commission proposal only provides for checking of identification information.
The proposal allows for gathering online statements of support. The Presidency has said that member states would check these online statements of support in the same way as they would those gathered on paper. Some countries have made it clear that checking must not result in too onerous an administrative burden. Estonia has said it is very interested in the online collection system. (L.C./transl.rt)