EU Democracy: Citizens now have EU petition power

Citizen Power

Ever dreamed of having the power to direct the European Union into passing new legislation? Effective last Sunday, April 1, all EU citizens are able to do so for the first time - provided they manage to rally 1 million people to their petitioned cause.

Corporations are not considered citizens in the EU, as they are in the US, and as such can not present petitions.

Presently, however, lobbyists will still have the ability to influence and finance petitions and several activist organizations have called on the European parliament to initiate legislation putting stricter controls on the activities of lobbyists.

The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) was foreseen by the Lisbon Treaty, the rulebook the EU has lived by since 2009. The introduction of the new right to petition was delayed until April 1 of this year so member states could set up the necessary mechanisms.

The ECI has been described as "the world's only transnational tool of direct democracy." "This is an unprecedented expansion in participatory democracy," said EU Institutional Affairs Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

Want to know more?  go to EU Citizens Initiative