The European Commission decided to register a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) entitled Taxing great wealth to finance the ecological and social transition. The organisers of the initiative call on the Commission to establish a European tax on great wealth for the benefit of the ecological and social transition.
The aim of the initiative is to contribute to the fight against climate change and inequality across the EU, as well as to ensure that European citizens pay their fair share towards achieving these objectives. The decision to register is of a legal nature and it does not prejudge the final legal and political conclusions of the Commission on this initiative.
Following the registration, the organisers have six months to open the signature collection. If a European Citizens’ Initiative receives one million statements of support within one year from at least seven different Member States, the Commission will have to react. The Commission could decide either to take the request forward or not, and will be required to explain its reasoning.
The European Citizens’ Initiative was introduced with the Lisbon Treaty as an agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens. It was officially launched in 2012. Once formally registered, a European Citizens’ Initiative allows one million citizens from at least seven EU Member States to invite the European Commission to propose legal acts in areas where it has the power to act. Since the beginning of the ECI, the Commission has received 127 requests to launch a European Citizens’ Initiative, 102 of which were admissible and thus qualified to be registered.
