Action brought on 17 November 2023 – Fondazione Save The Chickens ETS v Commission

(Case T-1086/23)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Fondazione Save The Chickens ETS (Milan, Italy) (represented by: C. Ceriello, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

annul the measure of invalidation of the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘End the Slaughter Age’ for failure to meet the quorum of 1 million signatures (link: ) and, by carrying out a recount, declare the quorum of 1 million signatures has been reached, and accordingly declare the I.C.E. ‘End the Slaughter Age’ valid;

in the alternative, order the Commission to recount the signatures, stating that paper-based signatures in any form or with a mere willingness to sign indicated by the organisers are to be deemed valid;

in the further alternative, having regard to the state of the signatures collected and to the repeated and persistent failures of the portal during the year in which the signatures were collected, having the period of time for the collection of signatures be reopened, extending therefore the online collection of signatures by another 30 days, in order that has anyone who has expressed to the organisers a readiness to sign may finalise the process online.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.

First plea in law, disputing the incorrect count of all of the paper-based signatures as also indicated in the summary set out in the action. The applicant claims that the willingness of the citizens to sign, in ‘analogue’ form as well as online, can be expressed in different ways in addition to the same associations that present themselves as promoters of widespread interests showing the express willingness of the citizens to sign.

Second plea in law, alleging that the Commission’s official portal for the collection of signatures had experienced technical problems that prevented citizens from being able to sign, especially at the weekends when it is always been more likely to obtain citizens’ signatures. Therefore, the right to have a full year to sign online has been infringed, it being impossible to consider sufficient the extension by one day only of the deadline for the collection of signatures, as granted by the Commission.

____________