11.3.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 65/1 (Legislative acts) | REGULATIONS REGULATION (EU) No 211/2011 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 February 2011 on the citizens’ initiative THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first paragraph of Article 24 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3), Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (%), Whereas: (1) The Treaty on European Union (TEU) reinforces citi- zenship of the Union and enhances further the demo- cratic functioning of the Union by providing, inter alia, that every citizen is to have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union by way of a European citizens’ initiative. That procedure affords citizens the possibility of directly approaching the Commission with a request inviting it to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties similar to the right conferred on the European Parliament under Article 225 of the Treaty on the Func- tioning of the European Union (TFEU) and on the Council under Article 241 TFEU. (2)  The procedures and conditions required for the citizens’ initiative should be clear, simple, user-friendly and proportionate to the nature of the citizens initiative so as to encourage participation by citizens and to make the () OJ C 44, 11.2.2011, p. 182. () O] C 267, 1.10.2010, p. 57. (’) Position of the European Parliament of 15 December 2010 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 14 February 2011. Union more accessible. They should strike a judicious balance between rights and obligations. They should also ensure that citizens of the Union are subject to similar conditions for supporting a citizens’ initiative regardless of the Member State from which they come. The Commission should, upon request, provide citizens with information and informal advice about citizens’ initiatives, notably as regards the registration criteria. It is necessary to establish the minimum number of Member States from which citizens must come. In order to ensure that a citizens’ initiative is representative of a Union interest, while ensuring that the instrument remains easy to use, that number should be set at one quarter of Member States. For that purpose, it is also appropriate to establish the minimum number of signatories coming from each of those Member States. In order to ensure similar conditions for citizens to support a citizens' initiative, those minimum numbers should be degressively propor- tional. For the purpose of clarity, those minimum numbers should be set out for each Member State in an annex to this Regulation. The minimum number of signatories required in each Member State should correspond to the number of Members of the European Parliament elected in each Member State, multiplied by 750. The Commission should be empowered to amend that annex in order to reflect any modification in the composition of the European Parliament. It is appropriate to fix a minimum age for supporting a citizens’ initiative. That should be set as the age at which citizens are entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament.