What is European Citizens’ Initiative?

European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is attracting a lot of news these days. Most of the people have limited knowledge about it. All they know is that it advocates or it comprises of some form of direct democracy. It is definitely a very interesting concept. I will try to explain this concept here.

1. The European Citizens’ Initiative came into effect on April 1, 2012. It is one of the foremost novelties of the Treaty of Lisbon. In the first year, 27 proposals were registered and 8 were rejected.

2. 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). The ECI is fundamentally different in form and function from right of petition and right of appeal to the ombudsmen as set out in the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993.

3. It is basically an invitation to the European Commission to propose legislation on matters where the EU has competence to legislate. This has to be backed by at least one million EU citizens, coming from at least 7 out of the 28 member states. A minimum number of signatories is required in each of those 7 member states.

4. Such an initiative is possible in any field where the Commission is competent to propose legislation. Firstly, the citizens must form a "citizens' committee" composed of at least 7 EU citizens being resident in at least 7 different member states. The members of this committee must be old enough to vote. Organizations cannot run such an initiative. However, they can promote or support an initiative. Full disclosure and transparency must be maintained in this regard.

5. Once the registration is confirmed, the organizers have one year to collect one million signatures. After getting one million signatures, the commission will carefully examine the initiative. There will be a public hearing in the European Parliament. The Commission will spell out its formal response citing reasons. It is not mandatory for the Commission to propose legislation as a result of an initiative. It might refuse to do so by citing adequate reasons. But, if it decides to put forward a legislative proposal, the normal legislative procedure will kick off.

Prominent ECIs Registered

1. European Initiative for Media Pluralism

2. Weed like to talk – Legalization of Cannabis and the harmonization of national legislations across the EU.

3. DO NOT COUNT EDUCATION SPENDING AS PART OF THE DEFICIT! EDUCATION IS AN INVESTMENT! – To combat inequality by providing equal opportunities for education and training to all young people in Europe.

4. Turn me Off! – To prohibit the practice of leaving the lights on in shops and offices when unoccupied.

5. European Free Vaping Initiative- Classification of electronic cigarettes and related products through legislation as general purpose recreational products, and not as medicinal, tobacco or similar products, regardless of nicotine content.