It was necessary to establish the minimum number of Member States from which citizens must come in order to ensure that a citizens' initiative represents a genuine, European interest and to reflect the fact that the Treaty says citizens must come from ‘a significant number of Member States’.
Selleks et kodanikualgatus tõepoolest kätkeks endas terve Euroopa huvi ning kuna lepingus on sätestatud, et kodanikud peavad olema pärit „märkimisväärsest arvust liikmesriikidest”, on liikmesriikide arvule kehtestatud alampiir.