EESC adviseert lage drempels voor Europees burgerinitiatief (en)

No hurdles! EESC recommends low thresholds for the European citizen's initiative

The EESC has adopted two key opinions concerning the Lisbon Treaty's provisions on participatory democracy, notably the European citizen's initiative (ECI) as well as a better involvement of civil society in the Council presidencies at its plenary session on 17 March 2010. Closer cooperation between the EESC and the European Parliament in order to better consult the viewpoints of civil society were also discussed in the presence of Libor Rou?ek and Isabelle Durant, EP Vice-presidents.

"No unnecessary hurdles, but clear, simple rules are needed if the European citizen's initiative is to become a success" said Ms Anne-Marie Sigmund (Group III, Various Interests, Austria), rapporteur of the opinion on participatory democracy and the ECI. The EESC's proposals aim at making the citizen's initiative as accessible and open as possible. It recommends low thresholds that would make it easier for initiatives to gather the support of one million citizens. The number of Member States required should be set at a quarter and be combined with a low number of signatures per Member State.

The Committee also calls upon the Commission to launch a Green Paper consultation on civil dialogue and recommends that a clear structured framework for civil dialogue with and between civil society organisations be put up. The EESC offers its support and infrastructure to support such a dialogue.

The opinion by Mr Miklós Barabás (Group III, Various Interests, Hungary) deals with the role of civil society organisations and the council presidencies. It highlights the special role played by the EESC as the institutional representative of organised civil society at European level, sets out proposals to strengthen that role and, at the same time, expresses support for the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty intended to enable the EU to work more effectively, in greater transparency and with enhanced legitimacy.

Speaking on behalf of the European Parliament (EP), its Vice-President Mr Libor Rou?ek placed the citizen and the lack of citizen's participation and interest at the centre of his speech and proposed a closer cooperation with the Committee in practical terms, especially on future Agora initiatives of the EP.

Vice-President Ms Isabelle Durant briefly outlined her vision of the future citizen's initiative. As the world had changed dramatically within the last 20 years and new means of communicating have opened new channels of participation, the EU needs to develop new tools to listen to its citizens, have them participate and bridge the gap between them and the EU institutions.

During the debate, both EESC members and the two EP vice-Presidents agreed on the need for closer cooperation between the two institutions in order to foster civil dialogue and also taking into account the Committee's new consultative function to the European Parliament.