The
European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is one of the major innovations of the
Treaty of LisbonThe Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
, aimed at increasing direct
democracyDemocracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The initiative enables one million
EU citizensCitizenship of the European Union was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty . European citizenship is supplementary to national citizenship and affords rights such as the right to vote in European elections, the right to free movement and the right to consular protection from other EU states'...
, who are nationals of at least one quarter of the
Member StatesA member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in...
, to call directly on the
European CommissionThe European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
to propose a legal act in an area where the Member States have conferred powers onto the EU level. This right to request the Commission to initiate a legislative proposal puts citizens on the same footing as the EP and the Council, who enjoy this right according to Art. 225 and 241 TFEU, respectively. The Commission holds the right of initiative in the EU.
Legal basis
The legal basis of the citizens' initiative is set out in Article 11, Paragraph 4 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 24, paragraph 1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Both articles were newly introduced with the
Treaty of LisbonThe Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
. The ECI complements the existing right of petition the
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and the right of appeal to the
OmbudsmanThe European Ombudsman is an ombudsman for the European Union, based in the Salvador de Madariaga Building in Strasbourg.-History:...
as set out in the Treaty of Maastricht (1993). Petitions and the ECI are fundamentally different however in terms of function, addressees and conditions.
The practical arrangements, conditions and procedure of the ECI have been determined in a new regulation. On a proposal from the European Commission, the
EPThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and the
CouncilThe Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...
adopted a regulation which defines the rules and procedure governing this new instrument. According to this regulation, the earliest possible date to register an ECI is April 1, 2012.
Before the entry into force
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
has collected one million signatures in December 2010 for a petition against the authorisation of new GM crops in Europe, hosted by Avaaz. Although Greenpeace has called the petition a ECI in the media, it has never been formally registered with the Commission - as this is not possible before 1 April, 2012 - and can therefore not be regarded a ECI as defined in the Lisbon Treaty.
Another ECI called
Fraternité2020Fraternité2020 is a European Citizens' Initiative founded in 2010. Its goal is to promote country exchange programmes such as the European Voluntary Service or the Erasmus Programme, among other things by dedicating more funds in the EU budget to those programmes...
is currently in its developing stages and wants to increase money for EU exchange programmes in the EU budget. Furthermore, a ECI is planned by German MEP
Martin KastlerMartin Kastler is a German politician of the CSU and member of the European Parliament.- Life :After attending the Martin-Behaim-Gymnasium in Nuremberg Kastler studied History and Political Sciences in Erlangen and Prague...
who is seeking to ban shops opening on Sundays.
External links
- European Citizens' Initiative on the initiator's web: