Use It or Lose It: Why raising awareness of the European Citizens’ Initiative should be a priority

Outside of our work in the world of democracy and civil society, the average EU citizen is usually surprised to find out that the European Citizens’ Initiative exists. In operation for almost six years now, the tool has not been successful enough to cut the Union’s “democratic deficit” yet, as intended – not only because some successful initiatives haven’t seen the legislative response they expected, but also because not enough citizens are aware of its existence.

It is no big surprise that only four of the 60+ submitted proposals so far have reached the required 1 million signatures. Not an easy task at the best of times. And there is not enough activity around the use of the tool either, partly because of the lack of knowledge surrounding it. The job of initiators has therefore become twofold: they must gather support for their own issue-specific initiative while simultaneously educating the public on what the European Citizens’ Initiative is and how it works. Instead of using the allotted year to raise support for the issue itself, organisers of initiatives find themselves spending valuable time giving citizens the basic information about the Initiative rather than securing their support for it. Unsurprisingly, because citizens are unfamiliar with the tool to begin with, they are even more reluctant then to provide initiators with any personal data, making the collection of signatures ever more challenging.

The Commission should make use of all available public channels to actively promote the European Citizens’ Initiative as a right of all EU citizens. Member States also have a  role to play in outreach to citizens and promoting the tool at national levels, where each country has its own issues of public interest. Schools and universities are excellent places to begin raising public awareness campaigns, where workshops on running mock -initiatives can teach students about debating public issues and tools like the European Citizens’ Initiative.

Greater awareness of the tool will lead to its increased use, renewal and improved effectiveness. Furthermore, citizens should be made aware of the importance of the transnational public debate taking place, thanks to the European Citizens’ Initiative, and the impact that this public pressure can have on policymaking processes.

Ultimately, the fact that the tool even exists is powerful in itself. It allows citizens to participate in setting the agenda for the European Union  themselves! You no longer have to wait for an election every five years to have a say in EU issues. You don’t even have to wait for a vote on a certain topic to come up in the EU – you can put the idea on the decision-makers’ table yourself. Nothing of its kind exists in the world, and so we must do everything in our power to make it a living, effective and impactful tool for participatory democracy.