European Citizens’ Initiative 2.0 – a louder voice for EU citizens

The new European Citizens’ Initiative Regulation has arrived and is the next important step for this groundbreaking instrument of participatory democracy. The Juncker Commission recognised the value of the European Citizens’ Initiative “for European citizens to make themselves heard … [and] to ask the EU institutions directly to act on the issues they really care about”. The new Regulation makes this easier.

Getting an Initiative started

The European Citizens’ Initiative process remains a demanding one for initiative organisers.  Greater support via contact points in all Member States and a Commission-run collaborative platform are much needed developments. An important technical change is that committees can now be legal entities, which reduces individual legal liability for organisers.

Recently, the Commission’s approach to registering an initiative has become more flexible – prompted, in part, by the European Court of Justice’s judgments against it. The Regulation confirms this approach, with the partial registration and revision of initiatives now possible. This welcome change increases the potential of the ECI to contribute to public debate in the EU. However, there is a question mark over exactly how the registration process will work in practice, so a further review may be needed.

Collecting support

Organisers can now choose when they launch their campaigns – any date up to six months after registration. This dramatically assists campaign planning.

Identification requirements were a major obstacle for citizens wanting to support initiatives. Now the first option for Member States is to require only the name, residency and date of birth, which is an important simplification. Unfortunately, full standardisation has not been achieved yet and Member States do still have a second option to require an identification number from citizens. Basing support eligibility on nationality also means that all mobile EU citizens can now support initiatives, wherever they live.

The Commission will provide a central online system for collecting support for all initiatives, which will reduce both the cost for organisers and the complexity for Member States. The exclusion of individual collection systems has, however, disappointed some in civil society.

The age for supporting an initiative can now be set at 16, if a Member State wishes although, with no obligation to do so, there may be little change.

Submission and Impact

The Commission retains legal control over the impact of a successful initiative, and there is no obligation on the Commission to act. However, there are some positive developments in terms of an initiative’s potential political influence. Organisers will present successful initiatives at a meeting with the Commission and at a hearing in the European Parliament, which will also hold a plenary debate on successful European Citizen’s Initiative proposals. The examination period has also been extended to six months. Hopefully, these changes will increase the European Citizens’ Initiative’s political influence, which is one of its main shortcomings to date.

Overall, the Regulation is a positive step forward for EU participatory democracy. The European Citizens’ Initiative though is still very young and it must continue to evolve, particularly the important final phase when an initiative’s impact on EU policies is decided. The new Regulation has set four years as the time we may have to wait for future development of this important part of EU democracy.