Hearing on ECI: Bringing European citizens’ initiative to its full speed
The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) might need improvements to ensure citizens’ right to request the Commission to propose legislation, Petitions and Constitutional Affairs MEPs say at a hearing on Thursday. The hearing, organised jointly by the Petitions and Constitutional Affairs Committees, examined the legal and technical hurdles of the existing procedure and the way forward.
Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, SE), Chair of the Petitions Committee, said: “The fact that so far only three citizens’ initiatives has managed to fulfil all the requirements needed to be presented to the Commission and none of the initiatives has led to a legislative proposal, is a clear sign that the procedure needs to be improved.”
“In order to ensure citizens’ right to invite Commission to propose legislation, both the legal and practical elements must be reviewed carefully. Some of the recommendations proposed in a study of the European Parliament, such as providing more information and support to citizens organising citizens’ initiatives and establishing a special center for citizens’ initiative, sound interesting”, she added.
Danuta Hübner (EPP, PL), Chair of the Constitutional Affairs Committee said: “The ECI is a direct and practical expression of the new distribution of power in the EU. I am afraid that we have not yet quite absorbed this new reality in which citizens are co-equal to the EP and the Council with respect to requesting the Commission to initiate a legislative proposal which is, in fact, a Copernican revolution in the European institutional landscape”.
“The ECI, as a powerful tool of intensified direct democracy, has a potential to become a cornerstone of a truly participatory and inclusive Union that would be more responsive to arising concerns of the citizens”, she added and stressed that participatory democracy would facilitate Europe’s capacity to meet people’s expectations.
György Schöpflin (EPP, HU), rapporteur on the implementation of the regulation on the European Citizens’ Initiative commented: “The ECI has potential to be one of the most effective ways of connecting the citizens of Europe to the EU. It is radical in that it gives citizens a way to launch legislation at the EU level and to affect the direction of European integration. To date, the ECI has not been a great success as too many such initiatives have fallen by the wayside or, worse, come up against the legalistic and bureaucratic assumptions of the Commission. Obviously this must change.”
Beatriz Becerra (ALDE, ES), rapporteur for the Petitions committee, called on the creation of a single European registry that would “allow the standardization of requirements and census of every Member State, so as to ensure the smooth procedure for citizens”. “This would mean a huge step forward in political integration, since it would be the first census of this kind”, she added. She also stressed that the key partnerships with organisations such as change.org show that “when given the opportunity through simple tools, citizens have the will to propose new ideas and to engage in the European construction. These partnerships would be most valuable for the correct public knowledge of the initiatives”.
First Vice-president of the Commission Frans Timmermans will present his conclusions on the future of the European citizens’ Initiative to MEPs in April.
European Citizens’ Initiative
The European Citizens’ Initiative, introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, enables EU citizens eligible to vote in European elections to help shape the EU agenda and request legislation.
To be heard, a Citizens’ Initiative petition must be signed by at least one million EU citizens, from at least seven of the 28 member states, within 12 months of the registration date. Its requests must also fall within the European Commission’s remit.
You can re-watch the hearing here (video available soon).
