Commission refuses to register citizens' initiative on preparing for extraterrestrial contact

The European Commission has refused to register the European citizens’ initiative entitled ‘Is Europe ready for the First Contact? Preparing mankind for the possibility of encountering extraterrestrials’, concluding that it is manifestly frivolous. The refusal is set out in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2171 of 15 September 2026, notified under document C(2026) 8560, and published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, of 28 September 2026. Only the Italian text of the decision is authentic.

The decision was adopted under Regulation (EU) 2019/788 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the European citizens’ initiative (OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 55), and specifically under its Article 6(3). The registration request was submitted to the Commission on 25 July 2026. On 17 August 2026 the Commission informed the group of organisers of its preliminary assessment and invited it to submit comments by 21 August 2026; the organisers submitted no observations within that deadline.

What the organisers proposed

According to the decision, the initiative called on the Commission to propose a coordinated European framework to prepare the EU for possible future scientific discoveries regarding life in the universe. The organisers specifically requested:

• European interdisciplinary programmes to study the scientific, social, cultural, ethical and diplomatic implications of any new evidence.
• Increased cooperation between Member States in collecting and sharing knowledge.
• Joint protocols to ensure responsible public communication.
• Promotion of education and reflection on mankind’s role in the universe.

An annex provided further details on the initiative’s background, subject matter and objectives, and the organisers also submitted an additional document and a draft legal act with their registration request.

The grounds for refusal

The Commission held that the proposed objectives rest on assumptions and premises that have not been ascertained, such as the discovery of ’extraterrestrial life or intelligence’ or of ‘a technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization’. It noted that the initiative asks the Commission to use several legal bases to submit different proposals, including the provision of funding, while there is no evidence of an actual possibility of establishing contact with non-terrestrial life forms or intelligence. In the Commission’s view, without any scientific underpinning for the existence of non-terrestrial life there is no rational basis to request action preparing for such an encounter.

On that basis, the initiative was deemed manifestly frivolous within the meaning of Article 6(3), first subparagraph, point (d), of Regulation (EU) 2019/788, and the request for registration was refused in line with the third subparagraph of the same provision.

Formal outcome and addressees

Article 1 of the decision states that the initiative shall not be registered. Article 2 addresses the decision to the group of organisers, represented by Gian Elio DE MARCO and Jean Pierre SAULNIER acting as contact persons. The decision was done at Strasbourg on 15 September 2026 and signed for the Commission by Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Member of the Commission.

The Commission had previously acknowledged that the group of organisers provided appropriate evidence that it fulfilled the requirements of Article 5(1) and (2) of the Regulation and had designated its contact persons in accordance with Article 5(3), first subparagraph.

The refusal closes the file before the signature-collection stage, so the organisers cannot launch the popular support campaign that registration would have allowed. The decision also illustrates how the Commission applies the admissibility test of Regulation (EU) 2019/788: procedural compliance by the organisers is not enough where the subject matter is judged to lack any scientific basis, and the ‘manifestly frivolous’ ground remains a live filter for initiatives touching speculative or unverified premises.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 28.9.2026, Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2171 (official reference: CELEX 32026D2171).