The organizers of the ‘Right2Water’ initiative have announced the successful collection of over one million signatures, which could mean that this project is the first European Citizens’ Initiative to gather a sufficient number of statements of support.
The concept of the European Citizens’ Initiative is intended to involve citizens in the creation and proposal of measures and policies that directly affect their lives. A minimum of one million signatures, or expressions of support from seven EU member states, is required, with each member state having a prescribed minimum number of signatures needed.
Verification by Country The initiators of the initiative believe that water is ‘a public good, not a commodity for trade’ and for this reason have called on the European Commission to ‘propose legislation that would implement the human right to water and sanitation in accordance with the United Nations’ position and promote them as a key public service available to all.’ Vice-President of the Commission Maroš Šefčovič congratulated the organizers on the impressive success of collecting as many as one million signatures, although he noted that all those signatures still need to be verified and validated. ‘The goal of the European Citizens’ Initiative is to stimulate a pan-European debate on issues that concern all citizens across Europe and to bring those issues onto the agenda of the European Union. ‘Right2Water’ has definitely succeeded in that,’ said Šefčovič.
Although the organizers could have already submitted their initiative to the European Commission, they decided to continue collecting signatures. However, before the final submission of the initiative to the Commission, the number of expressions of support they have collected will need to be verified by the relevant authorities in the countries where they were collected. For initiatives that collect at least one million signatures, with a minimum required in at least seven member states, the Commission has three months to examine the initiative and decide how to act on it.
