Article 6 Registration

1. Statements of support for an initiative may only be collected after the initiative has been registered by the Commission.


2. The group of organisers shall submit the request for registration to the Commission through the register.

When submitting the request the group of organisers shall also:

(a) transmit the information referred to in Annex II in one of the official languages of the institutions of the Union;

(b) indicate the seven members to be taken into account for the purpose of Article 5(1) and (2), where the group of organisers is made up of more than seven members;

(c) where relevant, indicate that a legal entity has been created pursuant to Article 5(7).

Without prejudice to paragraphs 5 and 6, the Commission shall decide on the request for registration within two months of its submission.


3. The Commission shall register the initiative if:

(a) the group of organisers has provided appropriate evidence that it fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 5(1) and (2) and has designated the contact persons in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 5(3);

(b) in the situation referred to in Article 5(7), the legal entity has been created specifically for the purpose of managing the initiative and the member of the group of organisers designated as the representative thereof is mandated to act on behalf of the legal entity;

(c) none of the parts of the initiative manifestly falls outside the framework of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties;

(d) the initiative is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious;

(e) the initiative is not manifestly contrary to the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 TEU and rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

For the purpose of determining if the requirements set out in points (a) to (e) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph are met, the Commission shall assess the information provided by the group of organisers in accordance with paragraph 2.

If one or more of the requirements set out in points (a) to (e) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph are not met, the Commission shall refuse to register the initiative, without prejudice to paragraphs 4 and 5.


4. Where it considers that the requirements laid down in points (a), (b), (d) and (e) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 are met but that the requirement laid down in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 is not met, the Commission shall, within one month of the submission of the request, inform the group of organisers of its assessment and of the reasons thereof.

In such case, the group of organisers may either amend the initiative to take into account the Commission's assessment to ensure that the initiative is in conformity with the requirement laid down in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3, or maintain, or withdraw, the initial initiative. The group of organisers shall inform the Commission of its choice within two months of the receipt of the Commission's assessment giving the reasons thereof, and shall submit amendments, if any, to the initial initiative.

Where the group of organisers amends or maintains its initial initiative in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph, the Commission shall:

(a) register the initiative, if it meets the requirement laid down in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3;

(b) partially register the initiative, if part of the initiative, including its main objectives, does not manifestly fall outside the framework of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties;

(c) otherwise, refuse to register the initiative.

The Commission shall decide on the request within one month of receipt of the information referred to in the second subparagraph of this paragraph from the group of organisers.


5. An initiative that has been registered shall be made public in the register.

Where the Commission partially registers an initiative it shall publish information on the scope of the registration of the initiative in the register.

In such a case, the group of organisers shall ensure that potential signatories are informed of the scope of the registration of the initiative and of the fact that statements of support are collected only in relation to the scope of the registration.


6. The Commission shall register an initiative under a single registration number and inform the group of organisers thereof.


7. Where it refuses to register or only partially registers an initiative in accordance with paragraph 4, the Commission shall state reasons for its decision and inform the group of organisers. It shall also inform the group of organisers about all possible judicial and extrajudicial remedies available to it.

The Commission shall make all decisions on requests for registration it adopts in accordance with this Article publicly available in the register and on the public website on the European citizens' initiative.


8. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of the registration of an initiative.



Regulation on the European citizens’ initiative(pdf).
#tagcoding hashtag: #euci06