(15 May 2015) – The European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Vivisection”, signed by 1.6 million Europeans, failed to impress MEPs at its parliamentary hearing.
“Stop Vivisection” is only the third European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to have successfully navigated the many obstacles of the direct democracy process.
After submitting a legally acceptable project, ECI organisers have a relatively short time in which to collect a million signatures. The organiser of an ECI on the minimum wage that failed to muster sufficient support said these are “insurmountable obstacles for networks that are not already well established on an international level”.
A debate is then held in the European Parliament, before the Commission decides whether or not the project is feasible.
The vivisection debate took place on Monday 11 May in Brussels. Political support for the “Stop Vivisection” ECI was fairly thin on the ground, despite the large scale mobilisation of the animal rights lobby, both in the audience and on the panel of experts at the hearing. (EurActiv)