The EU's Draconian Citizen's Petition Requirements

The roadblocks put in front of EU citizen petitioners, its effects on the Stop the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive petition, and how we plan to handle it.

by Heidi Stevenson

20 November 2010

Simply looking at what's required to submit a petition to the European Union (EU) will show the low regard that the EU holds for its citizens. The first and most obvious is that the EU Commission will not even look at a petition with fewer than a million signatures. Most grassroots efforts cannot surpass that obstacle—and it's difficult to believe that the authors of the rule didn't know it. It gets worse, though, far worse.

The single most glaring point that becomes apparent in researching the EU's citizens' petition system is that the European Commission acknowledges that the people do not currently have the right to initiate laws, that the Commission is giving the people the right to petition. It's described as an "innovation in the democractic functioning" and as a "step forward in the democratic life of the Union". Further, it merely obliges the Commission "to give serious consideration to the requests made by citizens' intiatives.⁽¹⁾

Is it any wonder that, when the opportunity to vote for or against establishment of the EU, the people have voted against it?

EU Structure

The only elected organisation in the EU is Parliament. The EU Commission is independent of state governments and is supposed to uphold the standards of the EU. Commissioners are not elected.

Member states get together and decide who they want to be President of the Commission. Then, that person is approved by Parliament, who then, in discussion with the states (though exactly what that means seems open to interpretation), selects the Commission's members. Parliament is able to vote for or against the entire slate of Commissioners, but may not vote for individual members.

The power of the EU Commission cannot easily be overstated. Though technically they must answer to Parliament, the reality is that they have tremendous power over the actual running of the EU.

This system was finalized by the Lisbon Treaty, over which the citizens of Europe had no say. It was implemented without a vote, after two countries—Republic of Ireland and France—had voted against it, and it became apparent that the people of the rest of Europe were no more likely to approve it than those two countries.

EU citizens should understand that their individual state governments are required to obey and implement all laws, regulations, and directives by the EU Commission. All directives, even if they limit human rights, must be followed by member states. Therefore, petitioning their countries' leaders not to adhere to EU laws will result in a response like last year's petition addressed to the UK's prime minister asking that Codex Alimentarius not be followed. It included the statement, "In the UK, food supplements are regulated under the European Food Supplements Directive 2002/46/EC which came into effect in the UK in 2003 and has applied since 2005."

Citizens' Initiative Tyrannical Requirements

Parliament has gotten involved with the Commission's requirements for petitions, and some of the results are outlined in the table below.

At least two petitions have garnered over a million signatures—the anti-GMO Avaaz-Greenpeace and the ELIANT anthroposophy petitions. However, neither has been presented. Avaaz has simply included a statement on their website saying

Now it will be delivered to the European Commission and our call for a moratorium will be lodged. More information about the delivery will be posted soon.

That's dated on 29 September. One must wonder why. The answer comes from ELIANT. They are active in addressing and attempting to change the incredibly unreasonable, unfair, and draconian requirements for citizens' petitions. These petitions do not meet the requirements that the European Commission wishes to impose—and it's questionable whether even revised requirements will allow the presentation of either petition.

As it stands, the EU's website offers two completely contradictory methods for filing citizen petitions:

• European Parliament petition instructions. Though a bit confusing, the requirements are not unreasonable. For example, a single person may petition for change. Even this document, though, is contradicted by another EU Parliament document, Implementation of the citizens' initiative produced over a year ago, which states that a million signatures are required.
• European Commission petition rules (PDF, draft provisions). Good luck plowing through this document and interpreting all provisions.

There has been significant discussion and debate over petition requirements, and at this point, nothing is settled—except that even the best-case scenario presents draconian requirements.

In writing the Stop the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive petition, trying to understand requirements was, and still is, one of the biggest hurdles. Finding that even petition giant Avaaz had problems, even having to ask people who had already signed to do so again because information required by the EU hadn't been asked. However, they may not have gotten it right the second time.

Following is a listing of some requirements. On the left are EU Commission draft requirements, and on the right are revised ones that have come out of the Parliament compromise:

Commission Requirements	Parliament Requirements
One million EU citizen signatures.	One million EU citizen signatures.
Member states may set the age requirement of signatories. (In all states except Austria, the age is 18. In Austria it's 16.)	Signatories must be 16 years of age.
The petition's "organiser" is defined as responsible for gaining signatures. (The implications of this are unstated, but it certainly appears to be a warning to organisers that they may be held liable if enough signatures are not gathered.)	The petition's organiser "may" collect signatures.
The petition's "organiser" must "ensure that all the relevant conditions set out...are met prior to submitting a citizens' initiative to the Commission. (This is obviously an attempt to intimidate those who would attempt to create a petition.)	This section is eliminated in the Parliament proposal.
"Organiser" may be either a natural or legal person or organisation. (In other words, corporations have the same right as a citizen to initiate a petition.)	Only natural persons who form a "citizens' committee" may initiate a petition. (This eliminates the ability of a corporation to initiate a petition. However, it adds a legal burden that only formal organisations, which must include citizens of at least seven different countries, may initiate a petition.)
Each signatory must provide the following: Surname First name Street City Postcode Country of residence E-mail address Date of birth Location (including country) of birth Nationality Personal identification number, which may be from a national identity card, passport, or social security number, and the state that issued it Date signed Signature (if petition is on paper)	Each signatory must provide the following: Name Permanent residential address Date of birth Place of birth Nationality Date signed Signature (if petition is on paper)

There's a great deal more than described in this table, but it gives a sense of the sorts of hurdles that the EU requires or will soon require to initiate a so-called citizens' petition. There can be little doubt that a true grassroots effort is not desired. The Parliament's version would not allow a petition to be presented by a corporation, such as Avaaz. Neither the Parliament's nor the Commission's version would accept a petition in which the signers don't give their dates or places of birth. The Commission even wants identification numbers!

These requirements—whether those proposed by EU's Parliament or Commission—are extreme and obviously designed to make petitioning government nearly impossible.

Implications for the Stop the THMPD Petition

So where does this leave the Stop the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive petition? It seems to me that a million signatures gathered by a true grassroots process cannot be completely ignored. If it can, then the citizens of the EU have a much bigger problem than access to herbs.

So, it has become necessary to re-examine which fields are requested and which are required for the Stop the THMPD petition. Because I cannot, in conscience, ask people to produce their ID numbers, which could open people to identity theft in the unlikely event that the petition site is hacked, the only approach that makes sense at this point is to request each signer to include all other information that may be expected by the EU, but allow each person the option of providing as much or little as desired, with the exception of an e-mail address. (Please note that the signature date is automatically collected.) Naturally, each signature that includes all the requested information will carry more weight with the EU. However, it should be apparent that even those people who choose to maintain their privacy by not providing it should also have their voices heard.

After a million signatures have been received, they will be presented to the EU Commission and possibly Parliament. If the people's interests, as clearly shown by this petition, are either ignored based on technicalities or simply declined, the people will have clear evidence that their will and rights are not what's served by the European Union.

A signature for this petition will indicate support for the individual's right to free access to herbal medicines, along with the implied freedom to manage one's health as the individual chooses, and it will support the individual's right to petition. Stop the THMPD was carefully written to assure that its goal is clear and concise—to leave no wiggle room as to the petition's or signatories' intent. If you can see your way to providing all the requested information, then please do, and rest assured that it will be kept secure. If you choose not to provide it, then please sign anyway to provide additional support. We do insist that your nationality and e-mail address be included so that signatures may be verified.

Please, do not attempt to sign more than once. The system does include software designed to catch duplicates. The goal is to show genuine and honest support for free access to medicinal herbs without governmental interference. That can happen only through an open and honest process. Certainly, that should be all the EU requires of its citizens in a petition.

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