The European Citizen's Initiative- the beginning of a real European public participation

2010-03-25

The European Parliament debated on the subject of the European Citizen's Initiative in its plenary sitting in Brussels. The Initiative's application procedure is being developed by the European Commission.

Maro¹ ©efèoviè, commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration says it is possible to see the Commission’s proposal for the implementation of the Initiative this year. The MEPs warned the EC about the issues surrounding the validity of the signatures, the financial status of the initiating persons or organizations and the enactment of the initiatives.

DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor suggested in his speech that the EC should issue an opinion based on community law and its own competence about the chance of enactment of each initiative before the start of the gathering of the signatures or after a certain amount of signatures gathered. The MEP consider that this way it is possible to avoid embarrassing situations for the EC and the European Union resulting from discarding one million signatures on formal or judicial grounds.

Csaba Sógor believes that the European Citizens Initiative is a great opportunity for the development of public consultations on European subject and the beginning of a real European public sphere.

The Lisbon Treaty, in force since last December has made it possible for one million citizens of the member states to obligate the EC to initiate legislation in the fields of its competence that allow for community legislation.

Vissza