Sign is a social business looking for funding in order to promote citizens' empowerment and the involvement of citizens in European affairs and decision-making in order to shift to a new type of governance.

Sign is an ambitious European project that aims at creating a social platform and a service toolbox in support of the European Citizens' Initiatives (ECI). Sign is helping the ECIs to be heard, to collect their 1 million required signatures and to raise the necessary funding to lead a successful campaign throughout Europe.

What are the European Citizens' Initiatives?

The ECI is a new tool of the European Union that came into force in April 2012. It allows any European citizen to present a legislative proposal to the European Commission, that can become a EU law applicable throughout all Europe, if it complies with specific conditions. Today, there are 16 ECIs in the first generation of proposals, however only one, Right2Water, has reached the 1 million signatures. Indeed, there are a certain numbers of obstacles for citizens to create an ECI, which Sign aims at removing.

How Sign's social platform will facilitate and increase the success of the ECIs

First of all, in order to submit a proposal, the citizen who had the initial idea must find 6 other European citizens of different nationalities to form a citizens committee. Through Sign's platform, citizens will be able to create a network, exchange their ideas and get together into a citizens committee of 7 different nationalities.
Secondly, in order to become considered by the EU, the proposal must collect 1 million signatures from minimum 7 different EU member states in a limited time of 1 year. The ECI organisers can increase their visibility through Sign's platform, and thus increase their signatures.
Last but not least, to reach the 1 million signatures, a comprehensive communication campaign must be led throughout Europe, and this requires considerable financial capacities. Sign is here to help the ECIs raise their budget through two main instruments:
- Fundraising towards organisations, businesses etc. in the name of Corporate Social Resonsibility;
- Using the crowdfunding mechanism advocating the citizen-to-citizen support

Sign is the result of a conviction in the strength of citizens working together, taking collective action and our capacity to change Europe to make it a better place tomorrow for us, the young generation. The European Citizens' Initiative is an incredible power given to citizens to get involved. Unfortunately, too few are today aware of its existence...

Behind Sign is also the belief in the imagination, creativity and intelligence of our generation, which gives us hope that a new form of participatory e-democracy, through the European Citizens' Initiatives notably, will be able to change the current system of governance and rules.