European Citizens Initiative in the Europe Direct Centre @ Ballinasloe Library

Multilingual booklets to promote and inform the public on the European Citizens Initiative are now available in the Europe Direct Centre at  Ballinasloe Library.
This initiative enables one million EU citizens from at least 7 EU countries to call on the European Commission to propose legislation on matters where the EU has competence to legislate.It is a right enshrined in the EU Treaties.
All EU citizens old enough to vote in European Parliament elections have the possibility to be organizers of initiatives.However,they first have to form a Citizens Committee composed of at least 7 EU citizens living in at least 7 different EU countries.
The Citizens Committee is responsible for managing the initiative throughout the procedure.Citizens Initiatives cannot be run by organizations.However,organizations can promote or sponsor initiatives provided that they do so with full transparency.
All citizens initiatives launched across the EU are registered on a central website managed by the EU Commission and the closing date is in early September..

Further information is available from the European Union Representation ,Molesworth Street,Dublin,  and:http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative.

Detailed information and guidance is available in the booklet 'Guide to the European Citizens Initiative' available from the Europe Direct Centre,Ballinasloe Library.

Europe Direct Centres were set up by the European Commission to inform the public on matters relating to the EU.

There are 8 such centres in Ireland. www.europedirect.ie