The European Citizens’ Initiative Reform: Does it Matter?

Abstract

The article aims to analyse the reform of the European Citizens’ Initiative, which entered into force at the beginning of 2020. More specifically, the article focuses on the question whether a possible impact of the changes might be that of an increase in the number of legislative proposals, as so far, out of the seventy registered ECIs, only two resulted in legislative outcomes. De lege lata changes intend to popularize and to give effect to the ECI, especially through the strengthening of the position of this tool as an instrument of e-democracy and through the reinforcing of the principle of subsidiarity and the model of multi-level governance. The reform is a step in the right direction. However, it is rather unlikely that it could boost the ECI as an instrument of indirect legislative initiative, which so far has had little impact. Such a situation results from the fact that the ECI is treated as a subsidiary tool to the instruments of representative democracy, generally accepted as the basis of the system. This is also the effect of the way the quasi-monopoly of the European Commission in the area of legislative initiative is interpreted. In consequence, the effectiveness of the ECI is currently perceived through the prism of collecting over one million signatures and conducting noncommittal dialogue. Nevertheless, in the light of the above, it should be remembered that the most effective form of encouraging civil society to participate in political activity is to reinforce its agency. De lege ferenda, increasing the impact of the ECI on decision-making processes is not dependent on potential changes in primary or secondary law. The change of attitude will suffice. Indeed, an increased number * Ph.D., John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin, Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration, aparol@kul.pl, ORCID: 0000-0002-4354-680X.