EINWURF 5 / 2018 – The Reform of the European Citizens’ Initiative: Not for the Youth?

Summary:

The European Union likes to talk about a “Europe of the citizens.” However, it is having trouble getting citizens directly involved in politics. For this reason, reforming the European citizens’ initiative (ECI) is a good and important idea. The ongoing revision negotiations show that the Parliament,Commission and Council want to improve the citizens’ initiative. It is supposed to become easier to use and to have a more tangible impact. There is a lot of consensus, but not on all matters. To prevent the reform from withering into just a mini-reform, at least the changes jointly envisaged by the Parliament and the Commission should be implemented. The revision of the citizens’ initiative must succeed. Otherwise, there is a risk that citizens will use it less and less often – and that it will ultimately become obsolete.