On April 1st 2012 an interesting innovation of the Lisbon Treaty will see the reality. At that date, the implementing legislation for Art. 14 EUT will enter into force and enable a minimum of one million citizens from at least seven member countries requesting the European Commission to launch legislative action in areas of common […]
Archives for European Citizens Initiative
Join the debate at the bottom of this post ! Last Wednesday, BlogActiv.eu hosted its 1st BlogActiv Bloggers Café bringing together around 30 EU bloggers and European Citizens’ Initiative stakeholders. This Bloggers Café presented the audience BlogActiv.eu new design and the Online Debate on “Stakeholders’ Community to Federate European Citizens’ Initiatives” in partnership with BlogActiv.eu. The debate around the European […]
Outcome of the ECI Seminar organised by the EESC “Various Interests” Group on 27 June 2011
July 12, 2011
Join the debate here ! Mr. Jahier, President of Group III, launched the initiative to organise a seminar on the European Citizens’ Initiative, the most innovative and concrete transnational tool of the Lisbon Treaty. He stated that this seminar offered the possibility to bring together forty participants from outside the “Schuman box”. Coming from nineteen European countries and representing […]
Welcome to our online debate entitled: ”Stakeholders’ Community to Federate European Citizens’ Initiatives” Join the debate at the bottom of this post ! European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECI) as well as Political Parties’ debates and campaigns could play a key role in the running up to 2014 European Elections. We can distinguish 3 main phases: Phase […]
Diploma legalisation: an issue for ECI?
April 19, 2011
I saw complaints from what appears to be heavy and even abusive procedures with diploma legalisation in Bulgaria, in various emails, letters, on-line forums etc. It could be useful if such information was more centralised. In any case, I’m happy to gather such experiences.
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EU Citizens and Media, European Citizens' Initiative, InfoSociety |
I am Just a Citizen
February 23, 2011
Like many in Brussels involved in policy debates, I rolled my eyes when I had learnt about the inclusion of a Citizens’ Initiative section in the Lisbon Treaty. Perhaps it was my well-honed, smug, academic elitism, but I had visions of hordes of the great unwashed coming to Brussels to clog up policy processes with… » read more
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EU Priorities 2020, European Citizens' Initiative, Future EU |
Starting citizens’ initatives is easier than stopping them
December 17, 2010
First of all, there will be a lot of single issue politics, connected to lifestyle/hobby groups like hunting, bird watching or music downloading. A million signatures to abolish copyrights will be no match for them. There will be also a lot of emotionally loaded political questions. Banning nukes, GMO agriculture products or bailing out Assange?… » read more
Citizens’ Initiative is being gutted in technical negotiations
December 7, 2010
Regarding ‘EU institutions close in on citizens’ petitions‘: While publicly EU decision-makers congratulate themselves for delivering a consensus regulation on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), privately they are ensuring the ECI can never actually be used. As your article noted, a few changes to the European Commission’s initial proposal have made the ECI regulation simpler.… » read more
Sir, Regarding ‘EU to kick off citizens’ initiative with tougher rules‘: The Young European Federalists (JEF Europe) welcome the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) as a unique opportunity to breathe new life into European democracy and strengthen the participation of citizens in EU policymaking, but it would be a terrible mistake to limit the potential of… » read more
Citizen initiative: We want EU to ban the burqa
May 3, 2010
Belgium last week took one step closer to becoming the first European country to outlaw the burqa, the Islamic veils that completely hide a woman’s face. Over the week-end, MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin (ALDE, Germany) called for a Europe-wide ban on the burqa because covering women, as she said, “openly supports values that we do […]
Blogtour: first reactions to the ECI proposal
April 14, 2010
I’m on record for thinking that European Citizens Initiatives (ECIs) could backfire, or, as Simon Blackley put it recently: “the words ’shoot’ and ‘foot’ spring to mind” My reasoning a couple of months ago was that people would be set up to be disappointed by organisers of badly conceived ECIs, who would blame the EU… » read more
I’ve decided to be a grouch until Spring fully arrives, which is why I am going to do the unthinkable and criticise the European Citizens Initiative against poverty. Like my previous post on the first ECI, my criticism is not about the content at all – who could criticise any initiative to reduce poverty? My… » read more
First Citizens Initiative – one year too early?
February 18, 2010
Last week MEP Martin Kastler (EPP-CSU) launched the first European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI). Is this a slow-motion train wreck, or the dawn of a new era of democracy? Two things immediately caught my eye when I checked out “Mum and dad belong to us on Sunday” (via @Kosmopolit via @andrewjburgess). First, apparently: Recently, the European… » read more