The European Commission registered a European Citizens’ Initiative, entitled ‘HouseEurope! Power to Renovation’. The aim of the initiative is to create incentives for the renovation and transformation of existing buildings.
The organisers call on the Commission to propose legislation incentivising the reuse of existing buildings based on:
1. tax reductions for renovation works and reused materials;
2. fair rules to assess both potentials and risks of existing buildings;
3. new values for the embedded CO2 in existing structures.
This European Citizens’ Initiative fulfils the formal conditions established in the relevant legislation, the Commission therefore considers that it is legally admissible.
The decision to register an initiative is based on a legal analysis of its admissibility under the European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation. It does not prejudge the legal and political conclusions of the Commission on the initiative and the action it would take, in case the initiative obtains the necessary support of at least one million EU citizens.
Following the registration, the organisers have six months to open the signature collection. If a European Citizens’ Initiative receives at least one million statements of support within one year with minimum numbers reached in at least seven different member states, the European Commission will be required to react – deciding whether or not it will take action in response to the initiative.
The European Citizens’ Initiative was introduced with the Lisbon Treaty as an agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens. 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. So far, the Commission has registered 119 initiatives.
