The European citizens’ initiative (ECI) ‘Stop Finning - Stop the Trade’ has become the eighth successful ECI, the European Commission announced on Wednesday 11 January. The ECI received over 1.1 million statements of support from European citizens.
The initiative calls on the Commission to propose legal measures to end the fin trade in the EU, including the import, export and transit of fins other than those naturally attached to the animal’s body.
“We ask that Regulation 605/2013 on shark finning also covers the fin trade and call on the Commission to develop a new regulation that would extend the requirement for ‘fins naturally attached to the body’ to all trade in sharks and rays in the EU”, according to the ECI’s instigators.
The Commission will meet the organisers in the coming weeks to discuss the initiative before a public hearing organised by the European Parliament.
The Commission has until 11 July 2023 to present its official response, outlining the steps it intends to take regarding proposing legislation, taking further non-legislative action or not taking action at all. This initiative is the eighth ECI to have successfully passed the one million signature threshold from at least seven Member States, demonstrating that European citizens can help shape European policies.
Read the ECI: https://aeur.eu/f/4ud (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)