Does it really work?

Does the initiative of European citizens work? Is it possible, and eventually to what extent, to improve this tool of participatory democracy at EU level? These are the questions that are the centre of a public hearing planned for February in 26 in the seat of the European Parliament in Brussels. Among the speakers figures representatives of Community institutions, jurists, promoters of initiatives with positive outcomes. However, there is no representative of the initiative “One of Us”, officially presented at the European Commission a year ago, on February 28 2014, endorsed with one million 700 thousand signatures, aimed at the “juridical protection of the dignity, right to life and integrity of every human being from the moment of conception in all areas of EU competence”. The meeting will be attended by Italian jurist Carlo Casini, an inspirer of the pro-life initiative, invited in his capacities as ex-president of the Commission for Constitutional Affairs of the EU Parliament. Citizens’ voices. The European citizens’ initiative (ECI) is a “constitutional right” enshrined in EU treaties, introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon enforced in 2009. Its implementation is carried out by Implementing regulation of 16 February 2011 whose Article 22 provides for a Review Clause: “By 1 April 2015, and every three years thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the implementation of this Regulation”. The ECI – is the definition – “calls upon the European Commission to propose a legislative act on matters where the EU has competence to legislate”. This initiative, specifically created to give citizens a voice in the legislative processes in Europe, can be promoted by an organizing committee and it must be backed by one million signatures from at least seven of the 28 Member States. When a citizens’ initiative gets one million signatures the Commission will carefully examine the initiative within 3 months, will meet the organizers “to enable them to explain in detail the issues raised” by the ECI, and will be given the opportunity to present their initiative at a public hearing in the European Parliament. Finally, the Commission “will adopt a formal response spelling out what action it will propose in response to the citizens’ initiative, if any, and the reasons for doing or not doing so”. Thus, as enshrined in the Treaty, the Commission “is not obliged to propose legislation as a result of an initiative”. But if it decides to put forward a legislative proposal, the Commission proposal is submitted to the legislator (generally the European Parliament and the Council) and, if adopted, it becomes law, whose validity extends across the entire EU. Stop to “One of Us”. The public hearing of February 26 is therefore an occasion to reflect on various aspects of the Initiative. Firstly on the concrete ones, as since the ECI became operational on 1 April 2012, a set of procedural difficulties have come to the fore: the collection and certification of signatures, for example, even in its online mode; certain “bureaucratic” aspects related to the presentation of ECI; the not always easy relationship between promoting committees and offices of the Commission. Equally relevant are the aspects related to the “discretionary power” entrusted to the Commission concerning implementation phase of the initiative once one million citizens have knocked on the doors of the institutions in Brussels. The promoters of “One of Us” still recall the blow they received on May 28 2014, on the aftermath of the vote for the renewal of the European Parliament, when the Commission decided to put a stop to the initiative that had raised major interest in Europe, mobilizing millions of people, local and national committees, promoting debates and stands on the defense of life in the framework of the political action of the EU (research on embryo stem cells, cooperation for development and family planning policies). Testimonies and experts. The “public hearing” in Brussels constitutes a stage of the work carried out by the Committee for Constitutional Affairs, together with the Committee on Petitions (PETI) to eventually provide the Commission Juncker with an opinion – which will require the endorsement of the hemicycle – on the review of ECI, to be enforced as of 2016. The session (9 am / 12.30) will be presented by Danuta Hübner, MEP, chairman of the AFCO Committee followed by an introduction by Cecilia Wilkström, PETI President and by the keynote speech of Frans Timmermans, first vice-president of the European Commission. Then several experts in juridical studies (University of Paris, Budapest, Luxembourg), institutional representatives (including Casini), will take the floor. Finally the representatives of a “successful” (Right to Water), of an unsuccessful, and a rejected initiative will share their personal testimonies. The EP Report will be submitted to the Commission in the coming weeks.