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The European Citizens’ Initiative is an underutilized tool for driving policy change in the EU, happy to see someone using it.
How do you plan to reach 1,000,000 signatures?
The European Citizens’ Initiative is an underutilized tool for driving policy change in the EU, happy to see someone using it.
How do you plan to reach 1,000,000 signatures?
Yes, we are aware of it being underutilised and we believe in direct democracy, hence the choice of using this as the tool to promote the initiative.
Reaching 1M signatures is not an easy task, we are aware of it. We are exclusively volunteers, aside from the founders we have a marketing strategy and a small marketing team, and actively recruting for people to help with PR in every EU country.
The current plan is to reach out to Pan-euroepan organisations, media, influencers and eventually all political parties across the sepctrum, and use their help to reach the numbers we need. We already managed to get in touch with some influenceers and several MEPs but there is plenty of work to do! :)
We are posting our open volunteering positions here
TL;DR:
I am an EA and Giving What We Can member presenting STAR-PASS, an official European Citizens' Initiative (publication reference: ECI(2025)000004) to add EU symbols to EU passports. I argue this is a neglected, high-leverage "identity nudge" that can strengthen supranational coordination, reduce the risk of Great Power Conflict, and act as a stepping stone for Moral Circle Expansion, all at a marginal cost.
Summary:
I have followed the Effective Altruism movement for seven years and am a member of Giving What We Can. While much of my altruistic focus is on high-impact giving, I believe we often neglect the symbolic infrastructure required for global coordination. I am currently part of a team leading an official European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) called STAR-PASS (publication reference: ECI(2025)000004). Our goal is to integrate the European Union stars onto national passport covers, as an optional choice for EU citizens.
While this may seem purely aesthetic, I argue from a longtermist perspective that this is a low-cost, high-leverage "nudge" toward institutional stability and the mitigation of Great Power Conflict.
1. Mitigating GCP - Great Power Conflict
By reinforcing a shared supranational identity, we strengthen the "normative glue" that prevents regional fragmentation. In a longtermist framework, maintaining a stable, integrated Europe acts as a civilizational anchor.
2. Solving global coordination failures
To address existential risks (e.g. AI safety, biosecurity, climate change) humanity should move beyond the "Nation-State" as the terminal unit of political identity. The EU is a mature laboratory for supranational governance. However, institutional coordination is difficult if citizens do not see themselves as part of the entity. STAR-PASS is a bottom-up attempt to make European citizenship a visible, lived reality for 450 million people (ref. Article 20 TFEU).
3. Moral circle expansion
A core pillar of EA is the expansion of our moral concern. National passports are physical artifacts of "tribal" boundaries. Adding the EU stars to the cover provides a frequent, physical reminder of a broader identity. This is a stepping stone toward a more cosmopolitan or global identity, which is essential for impartial altruism.
The European Citizens' Initiative is a neglected tool. It is a legal mechanism that drives the European Commission to consider a legislative proposal if we reach 1 million signatures.
A common EA critique is whether an intervention could cause a negative counter-reaction.
I am seeking visibility, feedback, and support to move this from a project to a movement.
If you believe that the path to a brighter future for mankind requires more structured and mature supranational cooperation, I invite you to join us.
Official ECI page: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2025/000004_en
Edit 26/Mar/2026: here is me presenting this initiative to the EU commission
We now have the video of me presenting this initiative to the EU commission: