A short guide to the European Citizens' Initiative

The European Citizens' Initiative became a reality on 1 April 2012, enabling citizens for the first time to ask for EU legislation on specific issues provided they gather one million signatures in support. In the words of Parliament president Martin Schulz, it is "a wonderful thing", but also a very serious act of direct participatory democracy that comes after a decade-long gestation.

With the Citizens' Initiative, the EU places citizens at the very heart of the decision-making process and, as president Schulz pointed out when presenting it to the press, "Signatures and initiatives can change a whole political direction."

In this feature you will find an introductory article by Parliament vice president Georgios Papastamkos, who is responsible for the Citizens' Initiative; a presentation of the initiative's main points by the members responsible for steering it through Parliament, Alain Lamassoure and Zita Gurmai; and a link to an interactive application explaining what the initiative is and how it works.