Historical progress: 1.5 million approved signatures for a Fur Free Europe
In March, the European citizens' initiative Fur Free Europe ended, an initiative launched by Project 1882 in Sweden, who was also the driving force behind the campaign. The validation of the collected signatures from EU citizens has now been completed and the initiative passed the limit by a good margin with over 1.5 million valid signatures. The proposal will now move forward to the various EU bodies, where a process of the initiative will commence.
The citizens' initiative Fur Free Europe was launched in May 2022, where Project 1882 along with 80 other European organisations is behind the initiative. The goal is to ban fur farming and trade of fur products throughout the European Union. After cross-checking all signatures, the initiative has now been confirmed to have 1.5 million approved names, of which nearly 100,000 of them were submitted by Project 1882 in Sweden.
– 1.5 million EU citizens have had their say. It is time for the fur industry to become an industry of the past. I look forward to the proposal being taken forward and hope that the European Parliament will support the proposal and its citizens' opinion, says Camilla Bergvall, President of Project 1882.
Fur Free Europe is now the tenth approved European citizens' initiative, out of a total of 101 previously commenced. Of these successful ten, five of them concern animal rights and animal welfare issues – where Project 1882 is behind three of them.
– This again is a very clear sign that citizens of Sweden and the rest of Europe care about how animals are treated. It is absolutely crucial that public opinion is also reflected in political action, concludes Camilla Bergvall.
What is next
The next step in the process is for the initiative to be presented in a public hearing in the European Parliament. After which the European Commission must respond to the initiative within six months, which may result in a bill in line with the opinions of the European citizens.
Project 1882 has long worked for a complete stop and ban of the fur industry, and this is a big step in the right direction for it to become a reality.
Help our work for the animals!
Project 1882 is dependent on the generous support of our donors to help the animals. With your donation, change is possible.
