The EU citizens' initiative "StopFinningEU", which was significantly co-designed by our creative team, has completed the voting period - and has likely reached the quorum: 17 out of 7 required countries and 202,122 signatures* above the necessary one million. Right as 31.01.2022 expired, the signing period, which had been extended due to Sars-CoV-2, came to an end.
The European Commission now has the responsibility to address the matter. In this context, a presentation of the initiative's objectives before the European Parliament may also take place - we will report on this. Because: we are staying on track, we continue to observe, we continue to fight. "Stop The Trade" has not yet been achieved - the path is not yet complete.
However: we have strong hope that the powerful signal from European citizens for the protection of sharks will be heard!
The final distribution of countries above or below their respective national quorums. Screenshot of the EU citizens' initiative webpage
*) The signatures are currently being verified. A "loss" of 10-15% is customary here due to duplicate or incorrect entries. It therefore remains tense whether the number of signatures will suffice. Everyone who campaigned for the initiative did not give up after reaching the one million mark, but continued to promote it so that it would suffice with a buffer.
