Competences of the Electoral Census Office in European Citizen Initiative

The European Union consolidates the citizenship of the Union and provides for all citizens being entitled to involvement in the democratic life of the Union by means of a European citizen initiative, regarding issues that citizens consider to require a Union legislative act.

• General information

  • In order to embark on a citizen initiative, a citizen Committee is needed. The Organisers, made up of at least seven citizens of the Union, old enough to vote for the European Parliament and resident in, at least, seven of the Member states.

    The Committee is responsible for preparing the citizen initiative, for its presentation in the Commission and for handling the initiative throughout the whose procedure.

    The Committee is also responsible for data processing, and therefore for applying the technical specifications for guaranteeing personal data protection when being processed by computer.

    In order to ensure coherence and transparency in relation to the proposed citizen initiatives and avoid collecting signatures supporting a proposal that does not comply with the conditions provided for in Regulation (EU) 2019/788, it is compulsory to register such initiatives on a website provided by the Commission, before starting to collect the necessary statements of support from citizens.

    In order to support an initiative, the signatories must be citizens of the Union and be old enough to vote in elections to the European Parliament.

    A million signatures are needed, from at least a quarter of Member states.

    In at least one quarter of the Member States, the minimum number of signatories required corresponds to the number of Members of the European Parliament elected in that State multiplied by the total number of Members of the European Parliament; in Spain, 40,554.

    All statements of support will be collected in a period not exceeding 12 months from a date chosen by the group of organisers. That date may not be later than six months from the registration of the initiative.

    The Organisers may gather statements of support on paper or electronically.For the collection of electronic statements of support, organisers may choose to use the Commission's Central Online Collection System, or their own individual online collection system, until 1 January 2023, when the use of the Commission's system will be mandatory.

    In the case of opting for an individual online collection system.

    Within 3 months from the end of the collection period, the Organisers must present the statements of support collected to the competent national authority for checking and certification of valid ones. Certification must be issued within 3 months of its delivery.

• Competences of the ECO
  • 1. The Electoral Census Office has been designated as the checking and certification authority for statements of support of Spain.

       Details of support declarations are different depending on the Member state, pursuant to annex III of Regulation (EU) 2019/788.

       • Countries with the form model set out in PART A of Annex III, not including the personal identifier of the signatory, among which Spain is not included.
       • Countries with the form model provided for in PART B of the Annex III, including the personal identifier of the signatory, among them Spain.

       Each Member State verifies the declarations of support of its nationals, whether they are residents in the Member State or outside it.

• Contact details

  • Electoral Census Office

    • C/ Poeta Joan Maragall 51 (Capitán Haya), 28071, Madrid
    • Email: se.eni@larotceleosnec.eci
    • Telephone numbers: (+34) 915834694, (+34) 915834697
    • Fax: (+34) 915834695
• Forms
  • • Application form for checking and certifying valid statements of support
• Spanish statament data and files
  • • Information of interest to the organisers of a European Citizen Initiative
    • Informative note on the issue of statements of support to the ICE
    • Oct-export
• Destruction of statements of support
  • • Procedure for the destruction of the statements.
    • Notification to the organisers of the deadline for the destruction of the statements.

Regulations

• Regulation (EU) 2019/788 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the European citizens' initiative, in force from 1 January 2020.
• Further information

Published press releases

02/04/2012 European Citizen Initiative