The European Commission has decided that three new European Citizens' Initiatives (ECIs) are admissible from a purely legal point of view on Wednesday 3 July. These three ECIs are entitled: "A price for carbon to fight climate change"; "Grow scientific progress: crops matter!"; "Let's put an end to the era of plastic in Europe".
The first ECI calls on the Commission to propose legislation to introduce a minimum price for CO2 emissions, abolish the existing system of free carbon emission allowances and introduce a border adjustment mechanism. It also calls for carbon pricing revenues to be allocated "to European policies that support energy saving and the use of renewable sources, and to the reduction of taxation on lower incomes".
The second initiative calls for the revision of a directive on genetically modified organisms (2001/18/EC) that was considered outdated by ICE organisers. In concrete terms, they are calling for changes to the provisions on new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) in order to "facilitate the authorisation procedure for those products obtained through NPBTs".
As regards the third ECI, its organisers are calling on the Commission to revise the Directive on the environmental impact of certain plastic products (2019/904/EC), with a view to banning "all plastic packaging and bottles by 2027".
In order for these ECIs to move to the next stage of the procedure, namely analysis by the Commission, they must collect one million signatures, from at least seven Member States, within one year. Only once these conditions are met will the Commission then decide whether or not to grant the request. In both cases, it will be required to give reasons for its decision. The three ECIs will be available (for signature) respectively on 22 July, 25 July and 26 July. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot - intern)