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On Thursday, 20 September, in the second and final reading the Saeima adopted the amendments to the Law on National Referendums, Initiation of Legislation and European Citizens’ Initiative, thus providing national legislation with a legal framework which enables the general public to take part in shaping the policy of the European Union.

The legal framework for the European Citizens’ Initiative sets forth that a million citizens, who represent at least one-fourth of EU member states may call on the European Commission to draft legislative proposals within its sphere of competence.

The Law is supplemented by a new chapter on the European Citizens’ Initiative; it sets forth that the citizens’ signatures collected in support of an initiative should be submitted to the Central Election Commission, which will count the signatures and verify their validity.

If signatures are collected online, the initiators of signature collection will have to ask the competent authority to issue a certificate confirming that the online system used for collecting signatures complies with established technical and security requirements. This requirement will not apply to cases in which the organisers of signature collection receive a certificate from a competent authority of another EU member state.

This week members of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Saeima considered drafting a separate law on the European Citizens’ Initiative which would distinguish it from the planned changes in the procedure for initiating national legislation, because the elaboration of a new procedure for initiating national legislation has already led to extensive debates and requires more time. Introduction of a legal framework for the European Citizens’ Initiative is required by the EU regulation.

The amendments to the Law will come into force on the day following their proclamation.





Saeima Press Service