European Citizens' Initiative
Every morning, millions of people climb into their cars, wasting their time, risking their lives and polluting our atmosphere with CO2 for trips that technology made unnecessary years ago.
We're asking the European Commission to address this by promoting our European Citizens' Initiative.
Join the fightThe Urgency
These are the costs of an outdated system that forces people into transit for work that doesn't require it.
At least 50 minutes a day
wasted commuting, every working day estimated
That is roughly 11 days of your year spent getting to a job that does not need the trip. No productivity, no rest. Just transit.
Around 2,441 deaths
fatal commuting accidents per year in EU estimated
830,000 non-fatal accidents. Thousands of families affected. Not to do the job, but to get to it. Commuting is one of the deadliest parts of white-collar work, and it is entirely avoidable.
22.6% greenhouse gas
emissions in the EU from road transport
Road transport is already the single largest source of EU greenhouse gas emissions. Much of it is daily commuting — journeys that remote work eliminates entirely.
But Why?
During lockdowns productivity improved, wellbeing rose, pollution dropped, cities decongested. Then companies ordered a "return to office". But why? Same reason as always: fear. Fear of losing control, of devaluating office assets, of changes in work dynamics.
Did we avoid using cars to protect the value of barns? Did we ban telephones to protect the value of telegraphs? Should we keep polluting just to make profits on fossil fuels?
Remote work would not shrink the economy. It would revitalise it. Time saved on commutes becomes available for local shopping, family, life. Let's make it a reality!
The Numbers
Click any card to learn more.
54 to 75% less carbon
emissions from full-time remote work
PNAS, 2023; ENEA & Banca d'Italia, 2026
+13%
productivity gain in remote-eligible roles
Bloom et al., 2015
11 days a year back
reclaimed per worker who stops commuting
Eurostat Labour Force Survey, 2019
Jobs can leave the capital
remote work enables regional employment growth
Eurofound, 2024
What Changes
Not a perk. Not a negotiation. A right, with employers carrying the burden of proof.
A 50-minute daily commute is 50 minutes you could spend sleeping, showering in peace, having breakfast with your family, or simply starting the day on your own terms. That time is yours. It has always been yours.
Caregivers. People with disabilities. Workers who can't afford city rent. Women managing high-risk pregnancies. Today, remote work is a privilege you negotiate individually. Tomorrow, it is a right the employer must justify denying.
Commuting costs the average European worker thousands per year in fuel, transit passes, and overpriced city lunches. Remote work turns commuting expenses into disposable income, spent locally, in the towns and regions where people actually want to live.
Managers currently reward face time over results. Workers hide disabilities, gender transitions, medical conditions, and religious symbols to survive office politics. Remote work lets output speak, not appearance, not presence, not conformity.
A Directive from the European Commission establishing a default right to remote work for all digitally executable roles. Not a suggestion, but a legal framework.
The key shift: the burden of proof is reversed. Workers don't need to beg for remote work. Employers must demonstrate, objectively and transparently, why physical presence is an absolute operational necessity.
Legal basis: Articles 151 and 153 TFEU (the Work-Life Balance Directive, 2019/1158, rests on Art. 153(2)(b) with 153(1)(i)), and Articles 191 and 192 TFEU.
A European Citizens' Initiative requires 7 EU citizens from 7 different countries to form an organising committee, then 1 million verified signatures.
We're currently assembling the committee. We are aiming to include 27 promoters, at least one from each EU country:
Workers from across the EU share how remote work has changed their lives, and why it should be a right for all.