European Citizens’ Initiative

The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) was introduced in 2009 with the Lisbon Treaty. It is a key element of participatory democracy, allowing citizens to play an active role in the EU's democratic life, by addressing requests to the European Commission for legislative proposals. The procedure and conditions for ECIs are governed by Regulation (EU) No 211/2011, in force since April 2012.

This was the subject of a first three-yearly review by the European Commission in 2015, leading to a debate on the ECI's effectiveness and some suggestions for improvement, in particular under the Commission’s planned review of the ECI Regulation in 2017.

Author: Nikolai Atanassov

• Primary Source

ESO: Key Source: The European Citizens' Initiative http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-european-citizens-initiative/

ESO: Find further information on this topic http://www.europeansources.info/advSearchLink?keyword=european%20citizens`%20initiative%20&searchOption=all

ESO: Background information: The European Citizens’ Initiative is five years old – and it has been no step forward for EU democracy (EuroppBlog, 07.04.17) http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-european-citizens-initiative-is-five-years-old-and-it-has-been-no-step-forward-for-eu-democracy/

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