The European Commission has adopted today a proposal for a Regulation allowing to extend the time limits for the collection, verification and examination phases applicable to European citizens’ initiatives.

Regarding the collection phase in particular, an extension of 6 months to the existing 12-month period is proposed for initiatives whose collection of signatures was ongoing on the day COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by WHO (11 March 2020).

The final text of this Regulation will become applicable once it has been adopted by the European Parliament and by the Council.