Brussels, 01/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - Given in mid-March, the European Commission's response to the European Parliament's requests for changes to the rules governing the European Citizen's Initiative (ECI) is an unequivocal “no”, and a slap on the face for the European Parliament.
The ECI is the first transnational participatory democracy instrument and is often described as a tool capable of transforming the way the European Union is governed. But, in practice, not much use is made of it. Of the 51 requests to register a citizen's initiative since 2012, only three have been deemed admissible. The reasons for the lack of enthusiasm are as follows: - fastidious procedures; - shortcomings in the rules; - a lack of transparency. Consequently, the European Parliament asked the European Commission at the end of October to present draft legislation to revise the regulation establishing the ECI (Regulation 211/2011) as part of its campaign entitled “12 ways to construct a ECI that works” (see EUROPE 11420).
Five months later, the European Commission replied to the Parliament saying it was too soon to issue a legislative review of the rules, without giving any explanation.
According to The ECI Campaign coalition, this democratic tool is under threat. The coalition argues in a press release that, to say it is too soon to revise the text is a “euphemism” and there is a lack of political will for participatory democracy at the highest levels of the European decision-making process. Furious at the Commission's decision, defenders of the ECI say that European decision-makers are failing to understand the ECI's positive potential to overcome national divisions and restore citizen's confidence in the EU. They add that European decision-makers have wrongly interpreted the aim of the European Citizens' Initiative and believe it would be used more to criticise the EU itself than European policies as such.
The ECI Campaign has little confidence for the future of this “revolutionary” tool and says that, if the ECI is not reformed, it will not be used and will end up dying a quiet death from negligence. The coalition wonders whether such a death is not the Commission's ultimate objective. (Original version in French by Maëlle Didion, intern)
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