European Citizens' Initiative (ECI)

Εν συντομία 14-07-2017

The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) was introduced in 2009 with the Lisbon Treaty. It is a key element of participatory democracy, allowing citizens to play an active role in the EU's democratic life, by addressing requests to the European Commission for legislative proposals. The procedure and conditions for ECIs are governed by Regulation (EU) No 211/2011, in force since April 2012. This has been considered in debate on the ECI's effectiveness, leading to some suggestions for improvement, in particular under the Commission’s planned review of the ECI Regulation in 2017.