Time to be a European citizen
Every EU citizen has a fundamental right to take initiative by using instruments of participatory democracy. One of which is called European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). It offers a unique way to shape EU law by enabling citizens’ participation in EU politics. Compared to the European Parliament’s (EP) right to petition, ECI fosters a debate on a specific policy, strengthens trans-European civil society and contributes to better policy-making at the European level.
It is very easy to participate. Follow this website and sign the proposals that you think are beneficial for a common future. The only two conditions to which you are bound are being a European Union citizen and having reached the legal age to vote in your country.
How to initiate an ECI ?
The process in itself is not difficult. Begin by defining a goal that falls within the Commission’s remit and create a ‘citizens’ committee’ composed of at least seven EU citizens who are not MEPs and reside in at least seven different EU countries. Note that they do not have to have different nationalities. Finally register on the Commission’s portal. There is still one small detail that you should handle; provide information on all sources of sponsors that you found. All funding exceeding five hundred euro must be indicated. This is to prevent political party support for your campaign and insure the initiative actually comes from citizens. Well done! Now you have twelve months to collect one million signatures. Once your initiative has reached the million signatures, the Commission will decide whether to take action or not. Usually it follows a public hearing in the EP and a plenary debate which ends up with an answer coming from the Commission. To gain the necessary political support, you also need campaign planning.
The reasons for not succeeding
ECIs mainly fail due to three reasons: administrative, legal and financial.
Admin: The Commission has two months to decide whether to register the proposed initiative. It will not be registered if the procedural requirements have not been met. You must follow EU rules to protect both paper and online signatures. Obey the personal data (GDPR) collection rules. Check also national regulations for signature submission for each member state. Some countries can demand additional procedures. Registration will also be refused if the initiative is deliberately frivolous, abusive, or vexatious, or conflicts with the values of the EU as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.
Legal: Request information from the Commission’s General Secretariat or ECAS’ support center on the latest ECI process. Write your case in an understandable way and get legal help. Make sure your wording is complete but does not provide a target for those who may oppose your goal. There is a diversity of legislative provisions among Member States, for example on human embryonic stem cell research. The #Oneofus campaign did not succeed because the EU has no competence to harmonise the legal situation in Member States. 18 Member States permit research involving human embryonic stem cells, three prohibit it (PL, LT, SK) and the rest have no specific legislation. Make sure that your proposal does not fall outside the framework of the Commission’s powers.
Another rejection occurred because the Commission found the proposal offered minimum justification. When the signatories demanded to ban glyphosate-based herbicides because of carcinogenic risks,the Commission still approved glyphosate for another five years arguing that there were neither scientific nor legal grounds to justify a ban of glyphosate.
Financial: By itself financial means is not an official reason for rejection. However, underestimating the costs for staff, translation, office equipment, online services, signature collection, advertising, printing, phones and postage can cause your campaign to run out of steam. Political campaigns, especially the ones at transnational level, can cost a lot of money.
Seven steps towards ECI campaign planning
One year to collect one million signatures is not a long time. Without a solid campaign plan the chances of attaining your goal can become tough. Let’s take a look at two successful campaigns over the last five years.
The “Water is a public good, not a commodity” campaign was the first successful ECI. The organisers submitted 1,659,543 signatures to the Commission in 2013 and a public hearing took place at the European Parliament in 2014. At the end the Commission took actions to reinforce the implementation of EU water quality legislation. The second example, called Stop Vivisection (animal experiments), was submitted to the Commission in 2015 and gathered 1,173,130 signatures. The Commission acknowledged that animal testing should be phased out in Europe and this objective differs from the one proposed in the ECI text.
1) Raise money: The ”Stop Vivisection” campaign raised a total amount of €23,651 in financial support. Water is a human right on the other hand, raised a total amount of €140,000. The amounts can vary from one campaign to another. However, fundraising is an important element in your campaign. Estimate how much money you will need to complete all the tasks listed in your campaign plan. Contact potential large donors and organise fundraising events to reach your fundraising goals.
2) Translate into multiple languages: The EU has 24 languages but you will probably lack resources to cover all. Select up to 10 priority countries big enough to surpass the threshold and ask your network to help with translations.
3) Create clear job descriptions: your co-organisers as well as paid and volunteer staff. Assign key tasks and responsibilities within your ECI’s steering committee, which supports the Citizens’ Committee.Determine how to recruit, train, motivate, supervis and reward your staff. The success of your campaign depends on them.
4) Seek long-term commitment from your supporters. Ask everyone who is involved to define a target number of signatures - and insist on collecting that number over a specific period.
5) Prepare for every week: Your strategy should spell out how to roll out your campaign every week. You can go beyond print and social media channels. It can also be promoted as advertisement or podcasts. Look at the platforms popular in your target countries so that you can reach a maximum number of potential signatories, contributors and volunteers for your ECI.
6) Secure signatures: Put in place both online and paper signature collection systems. We advise against developing your own software and recommend using the Commission’s software or Open ECI. However, note that not everyone is tech savvy; 42% of Europeans lack basic digital skills. When citizens sign on paper, make sure that it is readable and store the sheets at a dry place.
7) Aim high: If you look at it carefully, all successful ECI campaigns have collected more signatures than planned. Both campaigns have collected up to 10% more signatures. The reason is simple: the votes could be invalidated by national authorities due to incomplete or inaccurate information. Therefore, planning to collect more signatures than foreseen is wise.
We recommend testing your idea. Contact like-minded groups, NGOs, organisations and individuals in your target countries. It can include other ECI organisers, journalists, researchers, IT experts and experts on EU law. But most importantly, fellow citizens must find your topic important. Try to find stories to which citizens can relate. If the purpose of your campaign includes sustainable development goals (SDGs), it can go bigger in the EU.
ECI campaigns are far from being perfect. The main criticism of the ECI signature collection effort is that the final decision is still left in the hands of the EU institutions rather than ending up in a binding EU level referendum.
Three tips for your ECI
Avoid rejection by making sure that your ECI proposal falls into the EU’s remit.
Build a committed alliance through urgency, milestones and shared tasks.
Turn signatories into supporters by asking for donations.
- written by Elif Akyüz, elif[at]thedandeliongroup.eu
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