On 26 January the European Foundation Centre (EFC) participated in the conference “Warming up for the Citizen’s Initiative” organised under the lead of Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.
The European Citizenship Initiative (ECI) will allow 1 million citizens from at least one quarter of the EU Member States to invite the European Commission to bring forward legislative proposals in areas where the EU has competence to act.
How does it work? A citizens' committee composed of at least 7 EU citizens who are resident in at least 7 different Member States, will have to register their initiative with the Commission and once accepted will have 1 year to collect the necessary statements of support. The number of statements has to be certified by the competent authorities in the Member States. The Commission will then have 3 months to examine the initiative and decide how to act on it.
Officially, it will be possible to launch a citizens' initiative as of 1st April 2012. In practice, there are however some concerns as only a third of the Members states are currently ready to implement the new tool.
The conference marked the official launch of the Commission’s website and guide to register ECIs. It also showcased the EC open-source software for the on- line collection of signatures. Participants discussed the potentially central role of social media in promoting ECIs. Finally, members of the European Parliament explained the role that the EP will play in the process, as it should co-organized hearings on the proposals put forward by successful ECIs. The EP could also take-up issues of wide concerns but which have not exactly secure 1 million signatures.
The EFC welcomes the practical implementation of the ECI which should be seen as a step further in the recognition of the importance of the involvement of citizens at EU level, complementing the representative democracy.
The EFC shared its views on the ECI during the consultation organised by the European Commission in April 2009 .The Centre underlined the importance of direct participation and consultation of citizens, which the ECI should facilitate, but also the need to set up a framework at European level for a structured and permanent dialogue between civil society organisations and European Institutions. Concrete proposals are still awaited on this second front.
Background
The Lisbon Treaty article 11, has introduced a new form of public participation in European Union policy shaping, i.e. European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). As required by the Treaty, on a proposal from the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Regulation which defines the rules and procedure governing this new instrument on 16 February 2011
EC website