Advocate General Bobek has issued his Opinion in Puppinck and Others v Commission  [2019] EUECJ C-418/18P O.

Background

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is a mechanism introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon to promote the participation of citizens in the democratic life of the European Union: Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 (3) establishes the legislative framework for the ECI [3]. Mr Puppinck and the other appellants are the citizens’ committee of Uno di noi (‘One of Us’). The purpose of Uno di noi is to secure legislation that would end EU funding of research involving the destruction of the human embryo and prohibit EU funds from being used to support abortion or abortion advocacy abroad.

Uno di noi was registered by the European Commission as an ECI, having obtained more than the one million signatories necessary to reach the relevant threshold for submission to the Commission – one of only four ECIs, to date, to have attained the required number of signatures [4]. Continue reading →