A Comparative Approach to the Regulation on the European Citizens' Initiative

Abstract

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is a very unique expression of participatory democracy in a supranational context. Nevertheless, we could better understand its legal design and its political significance by assessing the similarities and divergences with analogous popular initiatives in national constitutions. This article will analyse the procedures and conditions laid down in Regulation 211/2011/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 16 February 2011 on the European Citizens’ Initiative, establishing a comparison with the relevant rules governing national popular initiatives from Member States. A comparative approach to the ECI will help to identify best practices in issues concerning the signatories and the organisers of the citizens' initiatives, the territorial distribution of signatures, the rules regarding the registration and the decision on the admissibility, the collection, verification and certification of the signatures, and the final submission of the citizens' legislative demands.