12/12/2018 (Agence Europe) – Representatives of the EU Council, European Parliament and Commission were scheduled to meet on Wednesday 12 December at 8 pm for a fourth round of negotiations ('trilogue') on the reform of the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI). In the morning, the Austrian Presidency of the Council obtained a new negotiating mandate from the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER). The minimum age allowed to support an ECI should be the central subject of the negotiations. Member States have shown reluctance to lower it to 16 years as proposed by the Commission, fearing that they would be forced by the Treaty on European Union (TEU) to also lower the minimum age for voting in European elections. Parliament and the Commission have tried to convince them that no such obligation is to be feared. The controversial issue (see EUROPE 12124) of the persistence of individual signature collection systems is also on the agenda. (MS)