A Revolution in Disguise: The European Citizens' Initiative

EU popularity plunges right across the bloc. One key argument is: We don't have our say. Nevertheless the Lisbon Treaty is proposing henceforth a new, still largely unknown way of participation - the European Citizens' Initiative ECI. This is no more than a placebo and a bogus participation, pundits are saying, despite the fact that the brand new element is still waiting for its first testing.

In our current Spotlight Europe "A Revolution in Disguise: The European Citizens' Initiative", Dominik Hierlemann and Anna Wohlfarth provide a detailed analysis of the possibilities of the ECI. Yet this has certainly not put an end to the ongoing debates about perceived democratic deficits in the EU. Notwithstanding should in Hierlemann's and Wohlfarth's opinion this initiative be understood and used as "an attempt to strengthen democracy in the European Union".

According to our authors, the citizens "will only be able to use the ECI if the procedure is transparent and manageable". If this is the case, Hierlemann and Wohlfarth are saying, then the initiative "does in fact constitute an opportunity to prepare for certain European decisions in a participatory manner, and to be a model for the member states". The ECI can also offer an opportunity for the European Parliament and the still rather rudimentary European parties opening really European debates, whether upon a financial transaction tax or a working-free Sunday. "A million EU citizens is all it takes to force European policymakers to engage in a specific debate."