Criticisms of democratic deficit have dogged the European Union virtually since its inception (Br... more Criticisms of democratic deficit have dogged the European Union virtually since its inception (Bradley 1997, Dougan 2008). Each successive round of reforms have attempted to mitigate against this, by further empowering the European Parliament, first through direct elections and then gradually through increasing its legislative role until the Treaty of Lisbon 2009 made it a co-legislature in virtually all fields of Union endeavor (Dougan 2008). However, in addition to the radical expansion of the ordinary legislative procedure, the Lisbon Treaty also makes provision for a new, more radical form of European participatory democracy. Article 11(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of European Union (TFEU) allows for the possibility that Citizens of the Union should be able, in sufficient numbers, to “submit any appropriate proposal” for legislation which they believe is necessary “for the purposes of implementing the Treaty”. Article 11 is framed in very broad terms, stating expressly that details were to be worked out by the institutions at a later stage, with Article 24 TFEU providing a specific legal basis for that purpose. On the 16 February 2011, Regulation 211/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on the Citizen’s Initiative ((2011) OJ L 65/1 hereafter Regulation 211/2011) was adopted which set out the specific requirements for putting together a citizen’s initiative, and the steps which the Commission must go through in assessing the validity and viability of that initiative. Article 11 TFEU tells us that the first requirement is that the initiative be supported by a minimum of a million citizens, but the Regulation imposes a significant number of additional requirements, outlining a detailed, step-by-step process. This article will examine the process created by the Regulation, the role of the Commission in the process and the potential value of the initiative in the European system. The first step is the establishment of what is called by the regulation “a citizens committee” (Article 3(2) Regulation 211/2011). This is essentially an organizing committee with some minimum membership requirements. The committee must be composed of at least seven citizens of the EU who have reached voting age for European elections (Article 3(2) Regulation 211/2011). There must also be residents of at least seven Member States on the committee. The simplest committee therefore would be seven adults, all citizens of the Union and all resident in different Member States. From the members of the committee, one must be appointed as a spokesperson to liaise with the institutions of the Union throughout the process (Article 3(2) Regulation 211/2011,
Criticisms of democratic deficit have dogged the European Union virtually since its inception (Br... more Criticisms of democratic deficit have dogged the European Union virtually since its inception (Bradley 1997, Dougan 2008). Each successive round of reforms have attempted to mitigate against this, by further empowering the European Parliament, first through direct elections and then gradually through increasing its legislative role until the Treaty of Lisbon 2009 made it a co-legislature in virtually all fields of Union endeavor (Dougan 2008). However, in addition to the radical expansion of the ordinary legislative procedure, the Lisbon Treaty also makes provision for a new, more radical form of European participatory democracy. Article 11(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of European Union (TFEU) allows for the possibility that Citizens of the Union should be able, in sufficient numbers, to “submit any appropriate proposal” for legislation which they believe is necessary “for the purposes of implementing the Treaty”. Article 11 is framed in very broad terms, stating expressly that details were to be worked out by the institutions at a later stage, with Article 24 TFEU providing a specific legal basis for that purpose. On the 16 February 2011, Regulation 211/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on the Citizen’s Initiative ((2011) OJ L 65/1 hereafter Regulation 211/2011) was adopted which set out the specific requirements for putting together a citizen’s initiative, and the steps which the Commission must go through in assessing the validity and viability of that initiative. Article 11 TFEU tells us that the first requirement is that the initiative be supported by a minimum of a million citizens, but the Regulation imposes a significant number of additional requirements, outlining a detailed, step-by-step process. This article will examine the process created by the Regulation, the role of the Commission in the process and the potential value of the initiative in the European system. The first step is the establishment of what is called by the regulation “a citizens committee” (Article 3(2) Regulation 211/2011). This is essentially an organizing committee with some minimum membership requirements. The committee must be composed of at least seven citizens of the EU who have reached voting age for European elections (Article 3(2) Regulation 211/2011). There must also be residents of at least seven Member States on the committee. The simplest committee therefore would be seven adults, all citizens of the Union and all resident in different Member States. From the members of the committee, one must be appointed as a spokesperson to liaise with the institutions of the Union throughout the process (Article 3(2) Regulation 211/2011,
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Papers by Bleddyn Davies