The 1st successful European Citizens' Initiative - Right2Water

The Commission today decided to react positively to the first ever successful European Citizens' Initiative, in those areas where it is able to act. Organisers of the Right2Water ECI called on the Commission to ensure that all EU citizens enjoy the right to water and sanitation, to exclude water supply and management of water resources from internal market rules and liberalisation, and to increase its efforts to achieve universal access to water and sanitation around the world.

The European Citizens' Initiative was launched in April 2012 as a powerful agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens. It allows 1 million citizens from at least one quarter of EU Member States to invite the European Commission to take action in areas where the Commission has the power to do so. The first successful ECI, Right2Water, collected 1.9 million signatures, passing minimum thresholds in 13 Member States – far above the legally required minimum. Altogether, more than 5 million EU citizens have now signed up to more than 20 different initiatives. Germany only provided over 1 million votes!

PS: Romania didn't manage to obtain the minimum number of votes needed (25.000 votes).

Globally, the EU and its Member States currently provide close to €1.5 billion/year for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes in developing countries, making the Union the largest single donor in the world in this area.