Citizen initiative for European social network takes first step

Does the European Union need a law to establish a social network financed by EU institutions? This is precisely what a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is demanding from the European Commission, the Council of Member States, and the European Parliament. Today, the initiative has reached an important intermediate step: official registration as the 128th ECI since the introduction of EU citizens' initiatives.

The background to the “European Public Social Network” initiative is the desire for a platform that reflects European values and is simultaneously independent of the financial interests of an operator. The initiators' list of demands is quite comprehensive: the platform should, among other things, promote public dialogue, protect human rights for all people without distinction, and create a safe online space. It should also enable vulnerable groups such as children or the elderly to connect with the online world while still being protected from dangerous content. User privacy should also be a priority, especially regarding financial usage, and there should be transparent identification mechanisms.

1 Euro per year per EU citizen

How all of this is supposed to come together precisely has not yet been revealed by the initiators of this European citizens' initiative. But they want the EU Commission to initiate a law with which an EU institution will be founded to operate such a network. Universities are to build it impartially; EU companies could potentially participate. The initiative provides for independent supervisory bodies to be established by the EU Council and the EU Parliament.

The initiators calculate: The project would cost about 1 Euro per EU citizen per year – or 8 cents per month. With 450 million EU citizens, this calculation is possible even without a computer; the initiators have not included more detailed calculations of the sum in their text.

Signature collection can start

Whether the idea of a “European Public Social Network” can actually find broad support will be discovered by the initiators in the next step. Because after the EU Commission classified the request as compliant with regulations today, the signature collection phase begins. As soon as the initiators activate it, at least one million EU citizens must join the demand. Furthermore, in at least seven of the current 27 member states, additional hurdles must be overcome, which are based on population size.

However, even then, there would be no immediate obligation to operate such an EU social network: according to the EU treaties, citizens' initiatives are not binding formats like, for example, referendums in non-EU Switzerland. Nevertheless, the EU Commission would at least have to deal with the request.

(mma)