The EU Commission has registered a European Citizens’ Initiative. With a title of ‘HouseEurope! Power to Renovation’, its aim is to create incentives for the renovation and transformation of existing buildings.
The organisers are calling on the EU executive to propose legislation incentivising the reuse of existing buildings based on: (i) ‘tax reductions for renovation works and reused materials’; (ii) ‘fair rules to assess both potentials and risks of existing buildings’; and (iii) ‘new values for the embedded CO2 in existing structures’.
With the European Citizens’ Initiative fulfilling the formal conditions established in the relevant legislation, the Commission considers that it is legally admissible. However, at this stage, the has not analysed the substance of the proposals.
The decision to register an initiative is based on a legal analysis of its admissibility under the European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation. It does not prejudge the legal and political conclusions of the Commission on the initiative and the action it would take, if any, in case the initiative obtains the necessary support of at least one million EU citizens.
The content of the initiative only expresses the views of the group of organisers and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Commission.
Following the registration, the organisers now have six months to open the signature collection. If a European Citizens’ Initiative receives at least one million statements of support within one year with minimum numbers reached in at least seven different Member States, the Commission will be required to react.
The Commission will have to decide whether or not it will take action in response to the requests from the organisers of the initiative and will be required to explain its reasoning.
