On 10 April 2014, Grégor Puppinck, representing the European citizen initiative (ECI) ONE OF US, was heard before the European Parliament in Brussels. Officially validated on 28 February 2014 (Gènéthique press review on March 3rd, 2014), the ECI has gathered over 1.7 million signatures: "This is the biggest petition in the history of European institutions", emphasised Grégor Puppinck, adding that it satisfied "all of the conditions needed to generate a legislative proposal to be discussed by the next Parliament and Council after the elections". The decision to propose such legislation is now up to the Commission.

During the hearing, G. Puppinck also commented on "transnational lobbies defending minority interests that have become extremely powerful over the last twenty years" and their signatories, "a huge crowd" of volunteers, "with no money and no power". Those who have signed the petition have "listened to the voice of conscience" explained Grégor Puppinck who stressed the fact that "man is more than an object or an animal".           
But this initiative is not based solely on a basic moral requirement he explained. There are also "scientific grounds which show that research on embryo stem cells is basically outdated […] [and that] "the pharmaceutical industry is capable of testing future medicinal products on a large scale and at a lower cost without using iPS cells or animals"; there are also social reasons to show that the practice of abortion is not conducive to maternal development or health improvements.  Last, but not least, there are legal reasons which show that the action taken by the European Union is inconsistent in terms of ethics". 

To conclude, Grégor Puppinck vehemently stated: "whether it is a case of research, industry or development, no real progress can be based on the negation, exploitation and destruction of man at the start of his existence".