Grassroots democracy

The European Commission announced Wednesday that it wants to allow European Union citizens to participate in decision-making through online petitions.

The Commission's draft proposal, currently referred to as the "European Citizens' Initiative," is a fulfillment of The EU's Lisbon Treaty, which came into effect last December. Under the Treaty, the Commission is obliged to give serious consideration to petitions containing one million European voters' signatures.

The idea behind the initiative is to reduce the perceived gulf between voters and the EU institutions in Brussels, which are often seen as bureaucratic and far-removed from everyday reality.

Maros Sefcovic, the EU commissioner in charge of the initiative, sees the proposal as a vital step towards making the EU more democratic.

"This is how we can bring Europe closer to the citizens. Through this new instrument of communication we are giving the European citizens a new tool," Sefcovic said, adding that under the initative EU citizens "will be setting the European agenda."

Allowing new voices – within limits

This is not the first time online citizens' petitions have been addressed to the European Commission. Four years ago, a petition calling for the European Parliament to give up its monthly commute from Brussels to Strasbourg on the basis of the high costs involved, failed - mainly because the Commission had no power to act on it.

Whether the Commission would be obliged to act on a petition even after the proposal passes, is still unclear, because the commissioners will still retain the exclusive right to draft legislation.

The European Commission has already filled in a few details missing in the Treaty, mostly to prevent the citizens' initiative from being abused. For example, the million signatures required for a petition will have to come from one third of the EU's twenty-seven member states.

Each of these countries must also contribute a certain number of signatures. For example, Germany's population of 80 million people could not contribute fewer than around 74,000 signatures to any single petition.

Once 300,000 signatures have been collected from at least three EU member states, the Commission would then have to check if it could legally begin to draft a law.

"When you register, it will be checked if it is serious, if it is not abusive or if it is not devoid of all seriousness," Commissioner Sefcovic said.

The Commission will also have to determine "if the goal of the initiative falls within the priority aim of the Commission, which is the protecting of European values."

There would be a four-month window for the Commission to consider whether to act or reject the citizens' initiative. The proposal still needs approval by EU member states and the European Parliament, which the Commission hopes to gain before the end of the year.

Author: Nina-Maria Potts (dl)

Editor: Susan Houlton