CIR for the European Union is, we are delighted to report, imminent. The political decision has been made by the European Parliament and the machinery for implementation is under way. The exact details have not been decided but it is likely that only one million petitioners will be required for a binding referendum to be held. Considering that there are 375 million voters, this equates to a mere 0.27% of the electorate. 

The following is taken from the web site of Initiative & Referendum Europe www.iri-Europe.org 

Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe & Austrian Institutefor European Law and Policy

PRESSRELEASE, May 14, 2009

European Citizens Summit in Salzburg welcomes EU Parliament Resolution on

the new initiative right and suggests specific improvements 

"EUROPE MAKES WORLD HISTORY WITH NEW

CITIZENS RIGHT"

Salzburg/Brussels – Europe is about to take a historic step in democratization. Overshadowed by

other political Europe topics, half a billion collective EU citizens have been given the right by the new

EU Lisbon Treaty to take action across borders in the legislative process of the EU. In the future, one

million Europeans will be able to present a legislative or treaty amendment proposal just as the

Parliament and the Council already can today which compels the Commission to act upon it. 

On Europe Day, democracy specialists from across Europe and the world gathered in Salzburg at the

invitation of the Austrian Institute for European Law and Policy as well as the Initiative and

Referendum Institute Europe, in order to confer on guidelines for the implementation requirements.

The Salzburg Summit here expressly affirmed the resolution adoptedby the European Parliament in

its last session about the new initiative right which places citizens in the future on the same level

with the Commission just like Parliament and the Council.

"The European Parliament has stipulated the central principle of free signature gathering", Andreas

Gross commented, Social Democratic Group Chairman in the parliamentarian assembly of the Europe

Council and added: "In some aspects it would be possible to improve the suggestions of the EP

further. This includes the extension of the proposed time frame for the collecting of signatures from

twelve to eighteen months. "Now  it’s the Commission’s turn", emphasized Anne-MarieSigmund, the

former President of the European Economic and Social Committee:"From now until the enactment of

the Lisbon Treaty, Brussels can still accomplish important preliminary work".

The Salzburg Citizens’ Summit further expanded the preparation efforts for a Europe-wide initiative

infrastructure. This should allow all Europeans to actively participate in future transnational agenda

settings. "It will be decisive", explained Prof. Johannes Pichler, director of the Austrian Institute for

European Law and Policy, "that future EU citizens’ initiatives receive financial and logistic support

from the EU in the same way as political parties represented in the EP do." 

"We propose the organization of a European Citizens Initiative Office", said Bruno Kaufmann,  

President of IRI Europe, at the conclusion of the Salzburg Summit:"This office should be given a clear

assignment and contribute to the citizen-friendly and pro-democraticuse of the new instrument". In

the coming six months, several task forces appointed by the Salzburg Summit will further develop

implementation criteria and present a summary resolution at the beginning of the coming year. "This

is world history in the making", a representative of Korea Democracy Foundation declared at one

point in the Summit. She observed the deliberations in preparationfor the "Global Forum on Direct

Democracy" to take place in Korea,  mid-September.