European citizens' initiative

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The European Citizens' Initiative ( ECI ) is an instrument for political participation in the European Union, which was adopted by the Treaty of Lisbon and is slightly based on direct democratic procedures .

Through it can citizens of the Union cause is that the European Commission deals with a specific topic. For this purpose, a total of one million valid statements of support must be collected in a quarter of all EU member states in twelve months .

The scope of the citizens' initiative is limited to the competences assigned to the European Commission under the EU Treaty and the AEU Treaty (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). In the opinion of the Commission, European citizens' initiatives must not demand any treaty reform, for example through the accession of new EU member states or the redistribution of political competences within the EU.

The citizens' initiative supplements the right to petition the European Parliament since the Maastricht Treaty (1993) and the right to complain to the European Ombudsman (since 1995). It has been available for use since April 1, 2012.

Classification of the citizens' initiative

The European Citizens' Initiative has both direct democratic characteristics and those of a petition , which distinguishes it from other initiative procedures, for example the German people's initiative or the Austrian referendum .

Typical for a direct democratic initiative procedure is the limited collection of a specified number of statements of support and the restriction to public concerns of general interest, as is the case with the European citizens' initiative. On the other hand, it is extremely unusual that the European citizens' initiative addresses the executive (European Commission), whereas direct democratic procedures are usually addressed to the respective parliament ( legislature ). With regard to the way in which a citizens 'initiative is dealt with by the EU Commission, it is similar to a petition: it only has to deal with a successfully established citizens' initiative and give an opinion on it (comparable to a petitions committee ), but it has no further obligations to act .

Ratification process

The legal basis of the citizens' initiative is set out in Article 11, Paragraph 4 of the EU Treaty , which otherwise deals with the dialogue between the EU institutions and civil society . In Art. 24 TFEU , the different with the Citizenship rights associated lists, was approaching find provisions enabling the precise conditions and procedures of the citizens' initiative by EU regulations are set.

The European Parliament took the first step towards the practical introduction of the citizens' initiative on 7 May 2009 with the request to the European Commission to draw up a corresponding regulation. The European Commission initiated the adoption of such a regulation on November 11, 2009 with the publication of a green paper on the citizens' initiative. The aim was to obtain opinions and suggestions for practical implementation from all interested parties and interest groups. On March 31, 2010, it submitted a proposal for a regulation on the European Citizens' Initiative to the Council and the European Parliament. The General Affairs Council drew up his part on 14 June 2010, a general approach on the Commission proposal, which the European Parliament joined on December 15 of 2010.

On December 15, 2010, the European Parliament adopted the regulation on the concrete design of the citizens' initiative with 628 votes in favor, 15 against and 24 abstentions. The Council of the European Union approved the regulation on February 14, 2011. On November 17, 2011, the Commission adopted the Implementing Regulation laying down the technical specifications for online collection systems in accordance with Article 6 (5) of the ECI Regulation.

To implement the ordinance in German law and to define the implementing provisions, a corresponding law was introduced into the German Bundestag at the beginning of November 2011 and adopted there on December 15, 2011. The Federal Council then confirmed the decision on February 10, 2012 .

In Austria, the implementation into national law took place by resolution of the National Council on February 29, 2012. The law was confirmed by the Federal Council without objection. Among other things, the law regulates the review and certification of statements of support by the federal electoral authority, contains specifications for online collection systems and provides for the possibility of contesting decisions by the electoral authority at the Constitutional Court as well as administrative penalties for the organizers in the event of false declarations. In the event of the purchase of votes, any election fraud or similar offenses, the same criminal law provisions should apply as for domestic Austrian referendums. According to the draft, data misuse will also be punished.

Legally, the Lisbon Treaty only restricts the initiative through two provisions: First, the initiative must be consistent with the European treaties and must not contradict higher-ranking European law. Second, the initiative must move within the scope of the powers of the EU Commission. This has the right of initiative in almost all political areas. Thus the initiators of a European citizens' initiative are hardly restricted.

The European citizens' initiative finally came into force across Europe on April 1, 2012.

Reform of the European Citizens' Initiative 2018/2019

In 2018, a reform compromise on the ECI was reached between the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The draft is to be adopted in March 2019, whereas the WeMove.EU citizens 'movement is launching a petition, as it sees the risk that software instruments other than the EU software developed in the reform process may no longer be used and that this will determine the risk that other software instruments for collecting votes for citizens' initiatives may no longer be used Initiatives are made more difficult.

Interpretations of Article 11 (4) TEU

The legal basis for the European Citizens' Initiative is Article 11 (4) TEU, but the legal interpretation of this article is controversial.

The prevailing opinion in legal and political science is based on the assumption that the European Commission is obliged to deal with the concerns of the citizens, but does not necessarily have to work out a draft legal act, i.e. it is also a justified rejection of appropriate measures for implementation of concern possible. For the Commission there is only a referral obligation. By referring to Article 11, Paragraph 4, the citizen can influence, but not lead, the opinion-forming process within the Commission. In its practical meaning, the European Citizens' Initiative in this interpretation can best be compared with the political right of initiative . This interpretation is also represented by the European Commission itself.

In contrast to this, there is the opinion that the Commission must take up the basic idea of ​​the citizens' initiative, but can modify it. The Commission is free to design and choose the legal basis, as long as its content is based on the requirements of EU citizens. The European citizens' initiative is therefore similar to a referendum , but does not have its full legal consequences.

The third interpretation put forward is that the Commission is obliged to comply with the mandate of the EU citizens and to draw up a corresponding draft law. She is not given any say in this. The only task of the Commission is to check whether the procedure was lawful. However, not only the prevailing opinion but also current practice contradict this interpretation.

Process of a citizens' initiative

Member State Official
language / s 		Minimum number of
sub
drawing 		Proportion of
the population
tion
Belgium French,
Dutch,
German 		16,500 0.15%
Bulgaria Bulgarian 13,500 0.18%
Denmark Danish 9,750 0.18%
Germany German 74,250 0.09%
Estonia Estonian 4,500 0.34%
Finland Finnish
Swedish 		9,750 0.18%
France French 55,500 0.09%
Greece Greek 16,500 0.15%
Ireland English
Irish 		9,000 0.20%
Italy Italian
German 		54,750 0.09%
Croatia Croatian 9,000 0.21%
Latvia Latvian 6,750 0.33%
Lithuania Lithuanian 9,000 0.30%
Luxembourg French
German 		4,500 0.90%
Malta Maltese
English 		4,500 1.08%
Netherlands Dutch 19,500 0.11%
Austria German 14,250 0.17%
Poland Polish 38,250 0.10%
Portugal Portuguese 16,500 0.16%
Romania Romanian 24,750 0.13%
Sweden Swedish 15,000 0.16%
Slovakia Slovak 9,750 0.18%
Slovenia Slovenian 6,000 0.29%
Spain Spanish 40,500 0.09%
Czech Republic Czech 16,500 0.16%
Hungary Hungarian 16,500 0.17%
United Kingdom English 54,750 0.09%
Cyprus Greek 4,500 0.40%

The European Commission can be called upon by statements of support from at least one million EU citizens from at least a quarter (currently: seven) Member States to propose a legal act on a subject which the initiators believe should be regulated. With regard to the right to request, the citizens of the Union are placed on the same level as the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union , who enjoy this right under Art. 225 and Art. 241 TFEU, respectively .

The European Commission is obliged to help collect the signatures by providing information, but it still retains the sole right of initiative . Even if a citizens 'initiative meets all the criteria, the Commission is therefore not legally obliged to actually convert the citizens' initiative into a legislative initiative. The formulation of the Commissioner for Institutional Relations Maroš Šefčovič that the Commission has "three options. Either we follow the initiative, we make changes to our texts or we do nothing at all ”. It is imperative that the Commission issue a public statement on how to proceed with the citizens' initiative's demands.

Registration of the initiative

The founding treaties set limits to the citizens 'initiative in terms of content: The citizens' initiative must be consistent with the existing European treaties and within the scope of the powers of the European Commission. In order to ensure compliance with these requirements, every citizens' initiative must first be submitted to the European Commission for registration. Citizens' initiatives that do not comply with these requirements will be denied registration with a publicly available reason. Originally it was planned that an admissibility check would only be carried out after 300,000 signatures had been collected. After protests by the European Parliament, which saw this procedure as an unnecessary difficulty for citizens, the admissibility test was brought forward to the beginning of the procedure.

Registration must be carried out by a “citizens' committee” made up of people from at least seven different member states. The Commission has up to two months to consider a registration application. If declarations of support are also to be collected via the Internet, the online collection system must also be certified in one of the member states. The relevant national body has one month for certification. The Commission has laid down the technical specifications for online collection systems in its own implementing regulation and has also had compliant open source software developed that can be hosted on EU servers for an unspecified transition period .

Collection of declarations of support

→ see also EU (e-Collecting) , electronic signature collection, on e-voting

After the eligibility check and registration by the Commission, the initiative can start collecting signatures in writing and online. The initiators then have twelve months to collect the required number of one million signatures. To ensure pan-European relevance, the votes cast must come from at least a quarter of the EU member states. In order to be included in this quarter, a minimum number of valid signatures must be achieved in the respective member state, which is approximately 750 times the number of members of the European Parliament of that state. The minimum number differs from state to state, although according to the principle of degressive proportionality it is higher in small member states as a percentage of the population than in large ones. In total, the range extends from 4500 signatures in Malta, for example, to 74,250 signatures in Germany. In Austria, at least 14,250 statements of support must be collected for this.

Review of declarations of support

After submitting the signatures, the Member States check the validity of the statements of support made by their respective citizens, for which they have three months. Depending on the Member State, different requirements apply as to which information is necessary for the validity check. For example, Austrians have to provide the number of their passport or identity card in order to sign a citizens' initiative , whereas in Germany, after initial considerations, this was finally waived. All signatories must be citizens of the Union and of the required age to vote in elections to the European Parliament . Due to the time taken for the results of the audit to be available, the figures published on the websites of the respective initiatives often differ from statistical information obtained in other ways.

Consultation and opinion of the Commission

A hearing will take place in the EU Parliament about a European citizens' initiative that has collected the required million declarations of support from at least a quarter of the member states, in which the Commission must also participate. At the end of the procedure, the commission prepares a legal and political opinion within three months and decides whether a new legislative proposal can be made and justifies its decision publicly. However, there is no obligation of any kind on the part of the Commission to implement the citizens' initiative.

The European Citizens' Initiative in Practice

Starting difficulties

A number of problems arose in connection with the online collection system in the first few months after the launch of the European Citizens' Initiative. The software developed by the Commission for this purpose turned out to be immature and flawed. At the same time, the strict requirements based on the ISO / IEC 27001 standard for the operation of a server for the online collection system posed major problems for the initiatives in many countries, as no private provider could have been found who could have met this standard or the costs went beyond any reasonable framework for server operation. In response to these difficulties, the Commission granted all initiatives received by the end of August 2012 an extraordinary extension of the collection period to November 1, 2013. In addition, the Commission set up its own certified servers in Luxembourg , which the initiatives can use free of charge for hosting the Online collection system can be used.

First citizens' initiatives

The first approved European Citizens' Initiative is " Fraternité 2020 " and was officially registered by the Commission on the symbolic Europe Day (9 May 2012). The status as the first citizens' initiative was announced the day before by the Vice President of the Commission Maroš Šefčovič via his Twitter account. On May 9th, Fraternité 2020 was officially entered in the Commission database under the number ECI (2012) 000001. The first citizens' initiative rejected by the EU Commission was “My voice against nuclear power” on May 30, 2012, which wanted to achieve a Europe-wide nuclear phase-out .

The petition “ Water is a human right! “Was the first citizens' initiative that, according to its own statements, achieved the required quorum in mid-September 2013 with 1,659,543 recognized signatories. The collection period for a total of seven of the citizens' initiatives submitted in 2012 officially ended on November 2, 2013.

The petition “ One of us ” is the citizens' initiative which, with 1,721,626 signatories, brought in the largest number of recognized signatures to date. However, the citizens' initiative against the investment protection agreements TTIP and CETA received significantly more support with over three million signatures, although it was not approved by the EU Commission. The EU General Court annulled this decision.

The current status of all European citizens' initiatives submitted for registration can be viewed on a central portal of the Commission.

List of European citizens' initiatives

criticism

The introduction of the European Citizens' Initiative was received positively in principle. The German association Mehr Demokratie welcomed “the first transnational instrument of direct democracy” and the Europa-Union Deutschland described the European Citizens' Initiative as a great opportunity for the European unification project and insisted “that the common cross-border action of the citizens will contribute to this in the long term to promote the development of a European public ”. The political groups in the European Parliament made a similar statement .

The most important point of criticism of the concrete implementation of the European Citizens 'Initiative is aimed at the fact that in a number of Member States, including Austria, the identity card number must be given in order to support a citizens' initiative. This creates additional bureaucratic efforts, is disproportionate and is not absolutely necessary for the determination of the admissibility of a statement of support. This is already evident from the fact that in some EU member states, for example Germany, it is possible to support a citizens' initiative without this information. The MEP and rapporteur on the revision of the European Citizens' Initiative proposes the establishment of a voluntary European electoral register, which only requires name, nationality, date and place of birth to express support.

The campaign organization Avaaz continued to criticize that the collection period of twelve months was too short and that the required quorum for a minimum number of signatures from a quarter of the member states was too high. In an online petition, she called for a deadline of 18 months and a lowering of the quorum to a fifth of the member states (instead of the current seven, this would be only five). The German party Die Linke demanded that it should be possible to sign European citizens' initiatives from the age of 16 and that it should also be open to people living in the EU who do not have Union citizenship.

The association Mehr Demokratie more fundamentally criticizes the fact that the European Citizens' Initiative is currently little more than an invitation to the European Commission. The evaluation of the citizens' initiative planned for 2015 should be used to develop it into a real direct democratic initiative procedure.

The ECI Support Center, a joint initiative of Democracy International, European Citizen Action Service and Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe, has developed an 'app' for Android smartphones that provides information on the latest European citizens' initiatives. The Center recommends that the European Commission develop an ECI app under public law that enables mobile signing and makes the European Citizens' Initiative better known.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

Legal basis

  1. ↑ Resolution of the European Parliament of 7 May 2009 calling on the Commission to submit a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council to implement the citizens' initiative (2008/2169 (INI)). 2008/2169 (INI). European Parliament, May 7, 2009, accessed March 19, 2013 .
  2. ↑ Green Paper on the European Citizens' Initiative. (PDF; 68 kB) COM (2009) 622 final. Commission of the European Communities, November 11, 2009, accessed March 18, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Public consultation on the European citizens' initiative. European Commission, February 3, 2012, accessed March 19, 2013 .
  4. ^ Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the citizens' initiative. (PDF; 117 kB) COM (2010) 119 final. European Commission, March 31, 2010, accessed March 18, 2013 .
  5. ↑ General approach to a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the citizens' initiative. (PDF; 319 kB) 10626/10. Council of the European Union, June 7, 2010, accessed March 18, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Legislative resolution of the European Parliament of 15 December 2010 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the citizens' initiative (COM (2010) 0119 - C7-0089 / 2010 - 2010/0074 (COD)). 2010/0074 (COD). European Parliament, December 15, 2010, accessed March 19, 2013 .
  7. ↑ Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1179/2011 of the Commission of November 17, 2011 laying down the technical specifications for online collection systems in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 211/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the citizens' initiative , accessed on 18 November 2011 . March 2013
  8. ↑ Act implementing Regulation (EU) No. 211/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 16, 2011 on citizens' initiatives ( Federal Law Gazette 2012 I p. 446 )
  9. ↑ EBIG Introductory Act. Decision of the National Council (501 / BNR). Austrian National Council, February 29, 2012, accessed on March 19, 2013 .
  10. ↑ EBIG Introductory Act. (PDF; 58 kB) Federal Council resolution. Austrian Federal Council, March 15, 2012, accessed on March 20, 2013 .

European Union publications

  1. ↑ European Citizens' Initiative (press release). MEMO / 10/683. European Commission, December 15, 2010, accessed March 19, 2013 .
  2. ^ Message to the press. (PDF; 230 kB) 6195/11. Council of the European Union, February 14, 2011, p. 13 , accessed on March 18, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Overview of the rejected registration applications from citizens' initiatives in the official register.
  4. ↑ One million signatures are enough to require a law (press release). Plenary session in Strasbourg, December 13-16, 2010. (No longer available online.) European Parliament, December 2010, archived from the original on March 14, 2013 ; Retrieved March 21, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europarl.europa.eu
  5. ↑ Official information on setting up an online collection system for a European citizens' initiative.
  6. ↑ Commission offers own servers to help get first European citizens' initiatives off the ground. Press release. (No longer available online.) European Commission, July 2012, archived from the original on December 30, 2012 ; accessed on March 23, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ec.europa.eu
  7. ↑ Green light for the first European Citizens' Initiative to use the Commission's servers. Press release (IP / 12/1160). European Commission, October 26, 2012, accessed March 23, 2013 .
  8. ^ Entry of the initiative Fraternité 2020 in the official register.
  9. ↑ Ongoing initiatives. Retrieved August 23, 2015 . - April 15, 2020 no longer available.

Press releases

  1. ↑ Dare to be more democratic - the European Citizens' Initiative. Goethe Institut, May 2010, accessed on March 21, 2013 .
  2. ↑ EU Commission rejects citizens' initiative against nuclear power. EurActiv.de, June 1, 2012, accessed March 19, 2013 .
  3. ^ Lynn Gogolin: European Citizens' Initiative - Progress with Flaws. Press release. Mehr Demokratie eV, December 15, 2010, accessed on March 26, 2013 .
  4. ↑ European Citizens' Initiative: A great opportunity for the European unification project. Press release. (No longer available online.) Europa-Union Deutschland, December 15, 2010, archived from the original on February 1, 2015 ; Retrieved March 26, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europa-union.de
  5. ^ Government draft for the European Citizens' Initiative: Preventing participation, discriminatory, non-European, bureaucratic. (No longer available online.) More democracy Austria, December 10, 2011, archived from the original on November 10, 2013 ; Retrieved March 25, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / mehr-demokratie.at
  6. ^ Helmut Scholz (MEP) : Making citizens' initiative a manageable instrument. Press release. Die Linke.in the European Parliament, December 15, 2010, accessed on March 26, 2013 .
  7. ^ Charlie Rutz: European Citizens' Initiative: A First Step. Interview with board spokesman Dr. Michael Efler. (No longer available online.) Mehr Demokratie eV, April 1, 2012, archived from the original on July 4, 2015 ; Retrieved March 25, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mehr-demokratie.de

Further evidence

  1. ^ Erwin Mayer: EBI - Chance or Risk (slide presentation). When the people want to decide for themselves. (No longer available online.) More democracy !, March 22, 2012, archived from the original on December 7, 2014 ; Retrieved March 26, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zukunfteuropa.at
  2. ↑ https://www.bbe.de/eunewsletter/bbe-europa-nachrichten-newsletter-fuer-engagement-und-partizipation-nr-1-vom-3112019/
  3. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2018-0226_DE.html
  4. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/plmrep/COMMITTEES/AFCO/AG/2019/01-22/1174155EN.pdf
  5. ↑ https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/ebi-reform
  6. ↑ Härtel, Ines (2006): Handbook of European legislation. Berlin: Springer Verlag. P. 352 and: Wallis, Diana / Picard, Severine (2005): The Citizens' Right of Initiative in the European Constitution: A Second Chance for Democracy? Published by the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program of the Open Society Institute (available at: http://www.euromap.org/journal/features/2005/demodef/wallis  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was created automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Last checked on April 24, 2014).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.euromap.org  
  7. ↑ https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative/faq_en#Getting-an-answer . See also: https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative/how-it-works_en , under "6. Get an answer".
  8. ^ Streinz, Rudolf / Ohler, Christoph / Herrmann, Christoph (2008): The Lisbon Treaty to reform the EU. Munich: CH Beck. P. 66f.
  9. ↑ See on this: Cuesta, Victor (2003): The Future of the European Citizen Initiative, in: Kaufmann, Bruno / Lammassoure, Alain / Meyer, Jürgen (2004): Transnational Democracy in the Making. Amsterdam: Initiative & Referendum Institute Europe. P. 72ff. As well as: Calliess, Christian / Ruffert, Matthias (2007): Constitution of the European Union. Commentary on the basic determination part I. Munich: CH Beck. P. 83f.
  10. ↑ Website of the first approved European citizens' initiative Fraternité 2020.
  11. ↑ Tweet from Maroš Šefčovič on the approval of Fraternité 2020.
  12. ↑ The European Citizens' Initiative - Official Register: Water and basic sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good and not a commodity! (No longer available online.) EU Commission, March 12, 2015, archived from the original on May 11, 2015 ; Retrieved May 3, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ec.europa.eu
  13. ↑ 1,857,605 signatures handed over to the national authorities. (No longer available online.) Right2water.eu, October 23, 2013, archived from the original on November 11, 2013 ; Retrieved November 11, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.right2water.eu
  14. ↑ The European Citizens' Initiative - Official Register: ONE OF US . (No longer available online.) EU Commission, March 12, 2015, archived from the original on May 8, 2015 ; Retrieved May 3, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ec.europa.eu
  15. ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/EU-Gericht-rehabilitiert-die-Buergerinitiative-gegen-TTIP-und-CETA-3712076.html
  16. ↑ Campaign website ( memento of the original from November 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. “EU: Time for More Citizen Participation” by Avaaz . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.avaaz.org
  17. ↑ http://www.democracy-international.org/european-citizens-initiative-reform | access = 2015-02-28