European Citizens Initiative Democracy-International

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The European Citizens Initiative

What is Democracy International?

Democracy International (DI) is a global coalition o individual

citizens and non-governmental organisations promoting direct

and participatory democracy. Its primary goal is to encourage the

development and use o well-designed initiative and reerendum

tools as a complement to representative democracy. DI membersthus seek to expand collective sel-determination at all levels o

government: local, regional, national and transnational. At the

same time DI and its member organisations advise citizens on

how to conduct successul citizens initiatives at regional,

national and transnational levels.

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What is the ECI Campaign o

Democracy International?

The ECI Campaign, created and run by Democracy International, suc-

cessully worked or the inclusion o the European Citizens Initiative(ECI) in the drat EU Constitution and later the revised Treaty on Euro-

pean Union (Lisbon Treaty). It then actively lobbied or citizen-riendly

rules governing its use. It currently monitors the implementation o the

ECI and provides guidance to groups and individuals on using the ECI.

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What is the ECI? The European Citizens Initiative (ECI) is the

rst transnational instrument o participato-

ry democracy in world history. As outlined

in article 11.4 o the Treaty on European

Union, it gives citizens the right to directlyengage in setting the legislative agenda

or the EU. Once signatures supporting

a policy proposal have been collected

and veried rom at least one million

citizens o several EU member states,the European Commission is obliged

to consider that proposal. It can, but

is not required to, respond by pro-

posing new legislation. The ECI is

thereore not a decision-making

instrument. The rst ECI may be

registered on 1 April 2012. The

specic legal procedures or

launching an ECI are set out in

EU regulation 211/2011 .

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Who can launch an ECI?

I you want to start an ECI, you cant

just begin by collecting signatures.

You must rst orm a citizens com-

mittee and then register your ECI

with the European Commission. A

citizens committee is a group o at

least seven citizens rom at least se-ven diferent EU member states, one

o whom will serve as contact person

in dealings with the European Com-

mission. It is designed to ensure the

quality and seriousness o citizens

initiatives.

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What topics are admissible or an ECI?

The European Commission will check i the ECI is admissible, then re-gister and publish it on a Commission-run website. I the Commission

reuses to register an ECI, the organisers may appeal the decision to the

European Court o Justice.

Organisers must indicate to which treaty article their ECI relates. Howe-

ver, even i this is incorrect, the ECI may still be admissible. The EuropeanCommission maintains that initiatives requiring an amendment to the

EU treaties are not admissible, although this is still subject to legal de-

bate.

The Commission may legally only reuse to register ECIs which mani-

estly: falloutsidetheframeworkoftheCommissionspowers

areabusive,frivolousorvexatious

arecontrarytothedemocraticvaluesoftheUnion

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What are the rules or signature collection?

When the organisers o the ECI have received conrmation o their regis-tration and their initiative has been published, they can start collecting

signatures. They have 12 months to collect 1 million valid signatures.

AnyEUcitizenwhoiseligibletovoteinEuropeanelectionscan

sign an ECI. SignaturescanbecollectedinallocialEUlanguages;thesig-

nature orms will contain a translation into each language o

the wording o the initiative .

TosupportanECI,usuallythename,address,dateandplaceof

birth,nationalityandsignatureissucient.However,many

countries require the personal identication number as well.

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When is an ECI successul?

An ECI is successul i one million validated signatures were collected

in not more than 12 months. Furthermore, national signature quotas

equal to 750 times the number o MEPs must be reached in at least se-ven diferent member states. Quotas vary rom 3750 in Malta to 74,250

in Germany (see table).

Once they have reached the signature collection target, the ECIs organi-

sers must submit the signatures to the relevant competent authority ineach EU member state or validation. Member state have three months

to validate signatures and send the organisers a certicate which states

thenumberofvalidsignatures.Sinceprobablynotallsignatureswill

be declared valid an initiative should collect more than the necessary

signatures. Having obtained the certicates, the organisers can submit

the ECI to the Commission.9


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Ireland

Great Britain

Belgium

Netherlands

Germany

Denmark

Slovakia

Finland

Estonia

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Countries which dont require a personal identication number.


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What happens to a successul ECI?

Although the European Commission is not obliged

to propose a legal act ater every successul ECI, the-

re is a political ollow-up. The initiators o an ECI have

the right to present their initiative at a public hea-

ring in the European Parliament in the presence o

the European Commission. They have the possibilityto discuss their initiative directly with the Commis-

sion and with members o the European Parliament.

Finally, the Commission will decide whether or not it

will propose a legal act. This decision has to be made

and published by the Commission not more thanthree months ater the submission o the ECI.

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I you or your organisation are serious about organising an ECI, youwill need assistance and should calculate at least hal a year to

prepare your campaign and another ull year to collect signa-

tures. We suggest that you consider the ollowing aspects

beore launching an ECI.

1.Identiy and develop your idea as much as possible.

2. Veriy legality. Check whether or not EU law al-

lows or the type o legislation you propose. Ex-

plore political reception o your idea, ideally

with those who are amiliar with how your

policy area has been handled in the

past by the EU institutions.3. Consider alternatives. Com-

pare all available alternatives

or reaching your goal.

Choose the instrument

which best suits yourgoal. It may not

be the ECI.

4.Research

ECI

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How does one prepare to launch an ECI?


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procedures. Request

inormation rom the

CommissionsGeneralSecre-tariat.StudyECIimplementation

rules as outlined in EU Regulation

211/2011 and get ree copies o hand-

outs provided by the Commission-sponso-

red contact point.

5.Write the initiative. Write in an understandable

way and get legal help. Make sure your wording is

complete but does not provide a target or those who

may oppose your goal.

6.Build a multinational citizens initiative committee. It must

have members rom at least seven EU member states and is re-quiredtoociallyorganizeyourECIandcommunicatewithEUin-

stitutions.

7. Build an alliance. Contact like-minded groups and individuals in

at least nine diferent countries. Alliance building is an absolutely

critical task. You need all the support possible.8.Evaluate opposition. Analyse the strength and validity o oppo-

sing viewpoints and organisations.

9. Develop a budget. Consider costs for sta, translation, oce

equipment, online services, signature collection, advertising, prin-

ting, phones and postage. Political campaigns, especially at trans-

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What should an ECI campaign include?

I having considered the signicant amount o work required to orga-nise a successul ECI, you decide to launch the ECI, its time to develop

plans or:

1.Signaturecollectionsupport.Upto20%ofsignaturescouldbeinva-

lidated by national authorities due to incomplete inormation. Plan tocollect at least 1,250,000 signatures. Find supporters to commit to coll-

ect a certain number o signatures over a specic period o time.

2. Online signature collection. Determine the sotware needed or

online collection in order to meet both legal requirements and your

campaigns needs. Embed your online signature collection in a broader

online campaign which includes social media.

3. Paper signature collection. Determine how many signature orms

and in which languages you need or distribution to organizations and

volunteers.

4. Organisation. Identiy and assign key tasks and responsibilities within

your ECI committee, as well as among paid and volunteer staf. Create

clear job descriptions.

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5.Volunteer ma-

nagement. Decide how

to manage your most valuable part-ners: your volunteers. Determine how to recruit,

train, motivate, supervise, schedule and reward them.

6.Fundraising. Estimate how much money you will need to complete all

the tasks listed in your campaign plan. Contact potential large donors,use direct mail and organise undraising events to reach your undrai-

sing goal. Groups without an existing EU-wide inrastructure should ex-

pect to spend at least one euro per signature.

7. Communications. Make use o all relevant media, including the inter-

net, to inorm the maximum number o potential signers, contributorsand volunteers or your ECI. Prepare a plan or how to use paid and un-

paid media, speakers, events, endorsements, etc.

8. Signature return management. Signatures from dierent sources

must be assembled in time or submission to national authorities in thediferent member states.

9. Signature submission. Follow EU rules to protect both paper and

online signatures and personal data. Check national rules or signature

submission or each member state.

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What are alternatives to the ECI?

It is important that you compare all available alternatives or reachingyour goal and choose the EU instrument which best suits your goal. The

ECI is only appropriate when new EU legislation is required. In other si-

tuations, you might wish to consider the ollowing.

1. Lodge a complaint with the EU OmbudsmanI your issue involves mal-administration by EU institutions or their staf

then you may lodge a complaint with the European Ombudsman. The

oceoersanonlinecomplaintforminall23ocialEUlanguages.

www.ombudsman.europa.eu

2. Petition the European Parliament

I your issue is related to an area where the European Union is already

active and that action (or inaction) directly efects you then you might

consider petitioning the European Parliament. Any individual residing

in the EU, regardless o age or citizenship, has the right to petition theEuropean Parliament. This can be done by online orm or letter.

www.europarl.europa.eu

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3. Lodge a complaint with Solvit

I your issue involves a cross-border problem stemming rom the misap-plication o EU law by national authorities then you could contact the

freeproblemresolutionserviceSolvit.

http://ec.europa.eu/solvit

4. Submit a response to a policy consultation

Beore the European Commission starts to develop legal proposals it o-ten organises open public consultations and hearings. The public may

contribute, in writing, to many o these consultations. To see which con-

sultations are currently open visit Your Voice in Europe.

http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/

5. Talk to your Member of European Parliament (MEP)

You may directly contact the elected Member o the Euro-

pean Parliament (MEP) rom your constituency at any

time,eitherintheirnationaloce,BrusselsorStras-

bourgoces.For specic contact informationsee the European Parliament website.

www.europarl.europa.eu

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What will Democracy International do next to

support the ECI?Democracy International considers the ECI as only the rst step towards

more direct citizen involvement and not as an end in itsel. Its ECI Cam-

paign will thereore monitor the implementation o the ECI to ensure

that the ECI lives up to its potential. It will also work to remove burden-

somerestrictionswhentheECIregulationisociallyreviewedin2015.Specically,itwillworkto:Simplifythesignatureformandeliminate

ID number requirements. Eighteen member states will ask their citizens

forpersonalidenticationnumberswhensigninganECI.Suchintrusive

personal data requirements are requently unnecessary, may deter sup-

porters and raise privacy concerns.

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Extend the time limit or signature collection rom 12 to 18-24 months.

The proposed 12 months to collect one million signatures are too short

or ECIs coordinated by smaller organisations without a huge budget

or or issues that are not yet well known or understood by the general

public.

Allow ECIs which propose treaty amendments. The Commission has sta-

ted it will not register ECIs which propose amendments to EU treaties.

However, the law on this issue is unclear and open to challenge by the

European Court o Justice.Provide adequate practical support to ECI organisers. ECI organisers

should have access to ree and comprehensive inormation on how to

conduct an ECI, legal advice and translation assistance. It is not clear i

the inormation services promised by the Commission will be adequate.

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European Citizens Initiative Democracy-International

Documents

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