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Overview
Since 20 September 2021 self-declared 'non-commercial organisations' are no longer required to provide a lobby budget. See above timeline for this registrant's historical lobby budget.
Lobbying Costs
None declared
Financial year: Jan 2022 - Dec 2022
Lobbyists (Full time equivalent)
3.8 Fte (11)
Lobbyists with EP accreditation
2
High-level Commission meetings
3
Lobbying Costs over the years
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Info
Foundation on European Citizens’ Rights, Involvement and Trust (ECIT Foundation)
EU Transparency Register
494832735094-65 First registered on 11 Jun 2019
Goals / Remit
The ECIT Foundation (Foundation on European Citizens’ Rights, Involvement and Trust) is a Brussels-based public foundation established under Belgian law on 3 June 2015 to work exclusively on topics pertaining to European citizenship. It serves as a ‘think-and-do tank’: producing not just research and policy analysis, but also actively campaigning and organising public events to bring together civil society organisations, academics and policy makers. ECIT’s raison d’être is to ensure the concept of European citizenship becomes more than the sum of its parts. ECIT has pioneered the idea of a statute on European citizenship. The proposal is supported by the European Parliament and the Conference on the Future of Europe. For specific projects such the ECI "voters without borders" or the new one "I'm going European" ECIT works with a youth task force.
Main EU files targeted
- Reinforcing democracy and integrity of elections package;
- Recast of Council Directive on the electoral rights of mobile EU citizens in European Parliament elections;
- Recast of Council Directive on the electoral rights of mobile EU citizens in municipal elections
- Recast of Regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations;
- Directive on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States;
- Regulation on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members exercising their right of free movement;
- Regulation (EU) 2021/953 on a framework for the issuance, verification and acceptance of interoperable COVID-19 vaccination, test and recovery certificates (EU Digital COVID Certificate) to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- EU Citizenship Report;
- Conference on the Future of Europe;
- Revision of the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) instrument;
- Eurobarometer surveys on democracy, elections and electoral rights;
- Europe for Citizens Programme;
- Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV).Address
Head Office
Rue de la Loi 26 1000 Bruxelles Belgium Salon for European Civic Organisations (SECO)
Brussels 1000 - SECO no 4
BELGIUMEU Office
Rue de la Loi 26 1000 Bruxelles Belgium Salon for European Civic Organisations (SECO)
Brussels 1000 - SECO no 4
BELGIUMWebsite
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People
Total lobbyists declared
11
Employment time Lobbyists 100% 3 10% 8 Lobbyists (Full time equivalent)
3.8
Lobbyists with EP accreditation
All Lobbyists with EP accreditation over time
2 accreditations were / are live (in bold) for the selected state of 07 Nov 2024
Name Start date End Date Anthony David Venables 10 Jun 2024 10 Jun 2026 Nadir Manna 10 Jun 2024 09 Jun 2026 Carla DONOHOE 01 Jun 2023 01 Jun 2024 Suzana CARP 11 May 2023 11 May 2024 Ms Caterina CAMMILLERI 22 Sep 2023 23 Mar 2024 Ms Martina RUBINO 17 Nov 2022 17 Nov 2023 Mr Basile PLEECK 18 Jun 2022 28 Oct 2022 Suzana CARP 07 Apr 2022 07 Apr 2023 Ms Roberta MAGRO MALOSSO 19 Feb 2022 01 Sep 2022 Ms Saga SMITH 19 Feb 2022 01 Sep 2022 Ms Catriona MAIR 19 Feb 2022 01 Sep 2022 Ms Marie RONSMANS 18 Feb 2022 18 Feb 2023 Mr Justin GOSHORN 18 Feb 2022 01 Sep 2022 Diana OLIVASTRI 11 Mar 2020 01 Sep 2020 Mr Bastian LE ROMANCER 15 Feb 2020 01 Aug 2020 Ms Lea LE GUÉVEL 15 Feb 2020 01 Aug 2020 Ms Gwenaelle LARAMY LANGONNÉ 15 Feb 2020 01 Aug 2020 Mr Joran BRONS 15 Feb 2020 01 Sep 2020 Ms Anna COMACCHIO 15 Feb 2020 01 Mar 2021 Mr Petar MARKOVIC 19 Jun 2019 01 Jul 2020 Maria Pia STERNATIVO 19 Jun 2019 15 Feb 2020 Complementary Information
The ECIT Foundation operates as a task force of young Europeans and Erasmus students working full-time. One member of the team is employed by the foundation under a 'convention d'immersion professionnelle' . The majority of the ECIT foundation's operational funds are spent on activities, not salaries. While the dependence on students and volunteers means operational costs are relatively low, the level of turnover in the task force is high. The number of persons involved from in the organisation's activities is liable to fluctuate. The ECIT Foundation's founder, Tony Venables, is also active in providing strategic direction and ideational input to the task force. Other members of the foundation's board also provide strategic input into the organisation's activities on an irregular basis. Suzana Carp, another Board member is particularly active especially to support the cross-party group of MEPs
Person in charge of EU relations
Data not provided by Register Secretariat due to GDPR
Person with legal responsibility
Data not provided by Register Secretariat due to GDPR
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Categories
Category
Think tanks and research institutions
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Networking
Affiliation
- ECIT is a member of the board of Europeans around the World (ETTW) (Link: https://euromonde.eu/);
- ECIT is a participating member in the EU Sign Day coalition (Link: https://eusignday.eu/);
-The Foundation works closely on political rights with VRAR(voting rights for all residents) ;
- Tony Venables is a member of the constituent assembly of the Democratic Odyssey
-The ECI "Voters without borders" led to the creation of an ad hoc coalition of 50 organisations on voting rights and it is expected that the new ECI "I'm going European" would involve similar coalition- buildingMember organisations
None declared
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Financial Data
Interests represented
Does not represent commercial interests
Closed financial year
Jan 2022 - Dec 2022
Lobbying costs for closed financial year
Since 20 September 2021 self-declared 'non-commercial organisations' are no longer required to provide a lobby budget. See above timeline for this registrant's historical lobby budget.
Total organisational budget in closed year
12,000€
Major funding types in closed year
Grants, EU funding, Donations
Major contributions in closed year
Type Name Amount Grant Europe for Citizens Programme (EACEA) 20,000€ Grant Erasmus plus and CERV 5,000€ Major contributions in current year
Type Name Amount Grant CERV (MobileCIT and NOTE) 21,000€ Other financial info
- Funding received in the form of grants from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation was mostly spent on activities related to the 'Voters Without Borders' ECI; When the ECI came to an end in June 2022 support has focussed on the cross-party group of MEPs on European citizenship. The budget in 2023 was just under 18.000 euros with a small additional fee for a senior consultant to help steer the activities. For the future, ECIT will relaunch the group after the June 2024 European elections, hopefully with support from other political foundations
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EU Structures
Groups (European Commission)
none
Groups (European Parliament)
The ECIT Foundation is host to a 'Cross-Party Group of MEPs on European Citizenship'. This group functions as a platform to the MEPs to interact and promote a dialogue between them and civil society on legislative topics pertaining to European citizenship, European political rights and the future of Europe. Around 12 MEPs - from different groups, committees and nationalities – have formed an informal collective . The activities of the group focus on quarterly meetings in Strasbourg or Brussels . The group has been supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation(FNF) for which ECIT is deeply grateful. After the June European elections a survey of MEPs will be carried out to attract members to the group and decide on its priorities for the next legislature. In addition to FNF , support from other political foundations will be sought.
Communication activities
- The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), ‘Voters Without Borders’, which aims to reform existing rights and to extend them to regional, national elections and referendums. Having been launched in September 2020, the signature collection ran until 11 June 2022 after several extensions. The plan is to follow up the ECI with a European symbolic election on 26 April 2024 just before the next elections to the Europen Parliament.
- A ‘Cross-Party MEP Group on European Citizenship’, which functions as a platform to the MEPs to interact and promote a dialogue between them and civil society on legislative topics pertaining to European citizenship, European political rights and the future of Europe.Quarterly meetings are planned. Around 14 MEPs - from different groups, committees and nationalities – have formed an informal collective to bring together a broad spectrum of political opinion on relevant topics and legislation;
- Lobbying the European Commission and European Parliament for EU voting law reform, specifically the recent package concerning ‘Reinforcing democracy and integrity of elections.’ ECIT is also lobbying the European Parliament to follow-up to the 2020 Citizenship Report, and lobbying both the European Commission and European Parliament for ECI Reform in an effort to improve the signature collection system and the visibility of ECIs on the Commission webpage;
- A ‘Statute on European Citizenship’, a drafted ‘Charter of European Citizens’ Rights’, codifying the rights and responsibilities of European citizens. The Statute has featured input from MEPs, academics and civil society representatives and has been published on the online platform of the Conference on the Future of Europe;
- Submitting complaints to the European Commission requesting it launch infringement proceedings against EU Members states, specifically concerning the disenfranchisement of EU citizens in five EU Member States; Thanks to the support of The Good Lobby , ECIT has an agreement with the law firm Latham and Watkins which provides pro-bono legal assistance. A first complaint is being followed up by anew one relatiing to disenfranchisement of EU citizens living in the UK in the June 2024 European elections
- Organizing an Annual Conference, bringing together civil society activists, researchers, policymakers and students to discuss relevant topics pertaining to European citizenship. The 2024 edition will be held on 31 October and will focus on the role of the EU institutions in developing this unique transnational citizenshipOther activities
None declared
- Meetings
Meetings
3 meetings found. Download meetings
The list below only covers meetings held since November 2014 with commissioners, their cabinet members or directors-general at the European Commission; other lobby meetings with lower-level staff may have taken place, but the European Commission doesn't proactively publish information about these meetings. For more information about which commissioner is responsible for which portfolio, check out this link: https://commissioners.ec.europa.eu/index_en All information below comes from European Commission web pages.
1 July 2024: We have noted that some meetings are appearing in duplicate, ie. some meetings seem to be listed twice. This seems to be because the Commission changes some element of a meeting data after the meeting has first been listed, which causes LobbyFacts to register it as a new meeting. We are investigating further.
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Date 06 Jul 2023 Location Brussels Subject Defence of Democracy Cabinet Cabinet of Vice-President Věra Jourová Portfolio Values and Transparency Attending - Simona Constantin (Cabinet member)
- Věra Jourová (Vice-President)
- Zuzana Dorazilova (Cabinet member)
Other Lobbyists -
Date 24 Apr 2023 Location Brussels Subject Defence of democracy Cabinet Cabinet of Commissioner Didier Reynders Portfolio Justice Attending - Didier Reynders (Commissioner)
- Joachim Herrmann (Cabinet member)
Other Lobbyists -
Date 03 Jun 2021 Location Online Subject meeting on citizenship education Cabinet Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica Portfolio Democracy and Demography Attending - Toma Sutic (Cabinet member)
Other Lobbyists
- Meetings