(30 November 2015) – The European Commission has today registered a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) inviting the Commission to propose to trigger Article 7 of the Treaty for alleged breaches of the EU’s fundamental values by Hungary. This registration starts a one-year process of collection of signatures in support of the proposed ECI by its organisers.
The Commission’s decision to register concerns only the legal admissibility of the proposal. The conditions for admissibility, as foreseen by the ECI Regulation, are that the proposed action does not manifestly fall outside the framework of the Commission’s powers to submit a proposal for a legal act, that it is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious and that it is not manifestly contrary to the values of the Union.
The College of Commissioners discussed the legal admissibility of the proposed ECI on 24 November and concluded that the legal conditions for the registration of the ECI were fulfilled. The College has not analysed the substance of the initiative at this stage.
Should the ECI receive one million statements of support within one year, from at least seven different Member States, the Commission will have to react within three months. The Commission can decide either to follow the request or not follow the request and in both instances would be required to explain its reasoning.