Commission´s proposal does not reach far enough - Citizens should codecide in Europe

Brussels – MEP Martin Kastler has requested "lower barriers" with regard to the EU commission´s proposed regulation for the European Citizens´ Initiative. According to him, even though the Commission´s proposal celebrates the instrument as a "whole new dimension of participatory democracy", the proposal does not fulfill efectively it´s promise to strenghen the citizens: "Therefore, it is the European Parliament´s turn to tackle this issue and lower these hurdles", states the German MEP.

The proposal provides, inter alia, the need to collect signatures from nine EU member states in order to validate a Citizens´ Initiative. According to Kastler "this proposal has followed the most restrictive ideas of the consultation process". He would prefer, if the number of member states could be reduced to at least seven.

A positive aspect for Kastler is the possibility of collecting online signatures. This has been a core issue for him.

However he reminds: "Even with a successful citizens' initiative, the Commission may ignore the vote of citizens and just refuse to act." Therefore, he asks for the possibility of a legally binding European referendum: "We finally need the courage to give citizens real participation", said the MEP.

Now is the parliament's turn, to improve its proposal: "As a European Parliament, we are the only directly elected representatives of EU citizens", states Kastler. Therefore, we have a special responsibility for the participation of citizens - through lowering the barriers for the citizens' but also through requesting the possibility of a legally binding referendum in the EU. 

You can find the Commission´s draft proposal here.