A European Citizens Initiative (ECI) petition calling on the European Commission to introduce legislation to suspend EU-funding of embryonic stem cell research has reached one million signatures.

When Micheal Martin was Health Minister, Ireland gave its backing to EU-funding of embryo stem-cell research.

The one million signature threshold means that it has the same status as a request for legislation from the European Parliament. Under EU law, only the Commission has the right to initiate legislation.

The initiative, One of Us, reached the one million signatures required yesterday, making it only the second ever second ECI ever to meet the requirements established by the Commission for being an official European petition.  

The ECI scheme was introduced under the Lisbon Treaty and is aimed at increasing direct democracy in the European Union.  

It enables one million EU citizens, who are nationals of at least one quarter of the Member States, to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act in an area where the Member States have conferred powers onto the EU level.

This right to request the Commission to initiate a legislative proposal puts citizens on the same footing as the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

Spokespersons for the initiative said that citizens from all 28 member states had expressed their disagreement with the highly controversial EU-funding of embryonic stem cell research by signing the petition.  

They added that the success of the ECI was “a strong cross-European consensus on the need for a greater protection of the human embryo”.

They also said that while they were thrilled by the support from across Europe, they would continue campaigning until the deadline of October 31st aiming in order to deliver an even stronger message to the European Commission.  

They said they would demand that the European Commission “ensure the full protection of the human being as the first and fundamental right in the society”.

A celebration day in support of the initiative “One of us” will be held on September 22nd in all the EU countries simultaneously. According to organisers, a joint collection of signatures will be organised in all countries of the European Union.