Foundation on European Citizens’ Rights, Involvement and Trust

- 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- building

None declared

Does not represent commercial interests

Jan 2022 - Dec 2022

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.

12,000€

Grants, EU funding, Donations

- 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

none

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.

- 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 citizenship

Here are some of the activities related to the TR that we have undertaken in the last year:

-meetings and exchanges with the citizenship unit of DG justice;

-meetings and exchanges with the Article 50 task force on loss of EU citizenship;

-meetings in the European Parliament for the revision of the regulation on citizens’ initiatives where we supported the ECI campaign and Democracy International;

-launched an ECI 'Voters Without Borders' on 1 September 2020.

-presented the ECI to both Commission and Parliamentary committees;

-ECIT's fifth Annual Conference, December 2020.

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.

• Date	06 Jul 2023	Location	Brussels
  Subject	Defence of Democracy
  Cabinet	Cabinet of Vice-President Věra Jourová
  Portfolio	Values and Transparency
  Attending	Věra Jourová (Vice-President) Zuzana Dorazilova (Cabinet member) Simona Constantin (Cabinet member)
  Other Lobbyists	European Endowment for Democracy Transparency International Liaison Office to the European Union Civil Society Europe Democracy International e.V. European Civic Forum Association Européenne pour la Démocratie Locale European Foundation Centre European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting The European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association Front Line Defenders European Partnership for Democracy European Youth Forum The Innovation in Politics Institute GmbH European Movement International

• Date	24 Apr 2023	Location	Brussels
  Subject	Defence of democracy
  Cabinet	Cabinet of Commissioner Didier Reynders
  Portfolio	Justice
  Attending	Joachim Herrmann (Cabinet member) Didier Reynders (Commissioner)
  Other Lobbyists	The European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association Transparency International Liaison Office to the European Union Amnesty International Limited Asociación de Víctimas de la Ley de Violencia de Género Madrid Open Search Foundation e.V. European Foundation Centre European Civic Forum EU DisinfoLab European Partnership for Democracy Democracy International e.V. Civil Society Europe European Citizen Action Service European Movement International

• 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	Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven