The European Commission has announced the registration of a new European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), titled "Creating a European Digital Space (.IA) for Sovereign Artificial Intelligence Governance." The initiative was registered on October 6, 2026, in Brussels. A European Citizens' Initiative is a direct democracy mechanism in the European Union that allows citizens of member states to submit proposals for legislative changes to the European Commission. For an initiative to be considered by the Commission, organizers must collect at least one million signatures from citizens across at least seven EU countries within a set timeframe. The essence of the registered initiative is to create a separate digital domain with the code ".IA," which is intended for regulating and managing artificial intelligence systems throughout the European Union. The initiative's authors view this measure as a way to strengthen Europe's technological sovereignty amid growing dependence on artificial intelligence developments from companies in the United States and China. Registration of the initiative means that organizers now have the official right to begin collecting signatures from citizens of EU member states. The European Commission, in turn, commits to considering the initiative if the necessary number of signatures is successfully collected and to provide an official response on the substance of the proposal. The question of digital sovereignty and independent regulation of artificial intelligence technologies has become particularly relevant for European institutions in recent years against the backdrop of rapid global competition in this field.