On 14 June, the General Affairs Council reached an agreement on the practical details of how to implement this important innovation in the democratic functioning of the EU. The presidency will now negotiate the details with the European Parliament.

The European citizens' initiative is one of the most visible results of the Treaty of Lisbon. Its aim is to bring the EU closer to its citizens and to encourage more cross-border debate on EU issues. It will enable citizens to call on the Commission to put forward legislative proposals on specific issues if they number at least one million signatories from a significant number of member states.

The proposal defines a "significant" number as one third of EU countries and establishes a key for calculating the number of signatories needed from each member state.

Procedures and conditions for registration of an initiative and the verification of signatures are also established. A proposed initiative must fall within an area of EU competence and be consistent with the Union's values. The text also contains provisions aimed at fending off risks of potential abuse and overloading the system.

According to the proposal, support for an initiative can be collected in paper form as well as online. When an initiative is registered, the organisers will have a year to collect the required one million signatures. They must also submit information on funding and support for their initiative. In addition, the Commission will decide on the admissibility of an initiative once 100 000 signatures have been collected.

In November 2009 the European Commission published a Green Paper and launched a wide public consultation to help to define the practical details of the Citizens' Initiative.