Everyone is invited to the European Parliament in Brussels and campaign for a citizen-friendly ECI. The next hearing on the European Citizens’ Initiative – this time organised by the European United Left/Nordic Green Left group (GUE/NGL) – will take place from 15.00 to 18.30 on Wednesday 15 .  For registration until Sept 8 and programme: More…

Why would Europeans be coming to California, seeking advice?

Well, a group of European scholars and ECI-Campaign activists were coming last week to learn as much as they could about the Californian initiative process. Our goal? Learn what to do (and perhaps not to do) as we design a new initiative process of our own in Europe. At the same time Americans show an increasing interest, as the recent New York Times piece shows, covering the European Citizen’s Initiative, including ECI-Campaign. Enjoy reading the report More…

Welcome to the Campaign for a citizen-friendly European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). Citizens’ initiative rights to be workable need to be designed in a citizens-friendly and useable way. This is what this campaign is all about now. Read more about the essential specifics and get engaged as well in this decisive phase. More…

The preparations for a citizen-friendly designed ECI-regulation are under way. These days ECI-Campaign has been invited to various public ECI-debates in Brussels and is in intensive exchange with all three institutions, the European Parliament, EU-Commission and Council. The institutions have signalled that they still are in their examination and brainstorming phase and that more time is needed than they first thought.  As ECI-Campaign, we strongly welcome this move and draw the attention to the seven most important points, in order to make ECI a useable and citizens-friendly instrument.

In the meantime the European Parliaments’ rapporteurs of the Petition Committee Diana Wallis & Gerald Häfner have produced a working document on ECI, which so far is the most citizen-friendly proposal of all institutional players. You can read their interesting position paper below. More…

Please take part in the  3 question survey and express yourself under what conditions you would sign a European Citizens’ Initiative. For more background information about this survey, pleas click here.

This survey is conducted by ECAS, one of the 120 supporting NGOs and Foundations of the campaign for a citizens-friendly European Citizens’ Initiative right.

Press Release by ECI Campaign, 16 June 2010

On Monday, 14^th June, the Council agreed on a draft ECI regulation which next will be negotiated with Parliament. According to Carsten Berg, Coordinator of the ECI Campaign, “this first provisional compromise regulation still remains too bureaucratic and non-transparent to make this new instrument truly workable for citizens”.   More…

There are some signs of hope that the ECI will become a usable democratic instrument for European citizens after the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and Council have come to their conclusions on ECI.

In preparing the ECI regulation, the Commission committed itself to consult the opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). Fortunately the EDPS shares the view of the ECI-Campaign that ID numbers should not be required when an individual signs an ECI.  More…

Everyone is invited to participate in the next ECI-Seminar “Questions of Implementation”  on June 22nd, 9h-12h30,  in the European Parliament  in Brussels, organized by the Liberal group.

Please register with Pekka Eskola.  If you need a badge to get in please provide name,  date of birth and your ID-number before 18.06.2010

Carsten Berg, Coordinator of the ECI-Campaign, is invited as ECI-expert and will present our proposals published earlier on this website. Also EU-Commissioner Sefcovic will particiapte in this  seminar and try to explain the Commission’s proposal. To get an overview on the Commission’s proposal  click on the flowchart:

Sefcovic has recently given another speech on ECI.  Hardly anybody within Civil Society or in Parliament and Council does understand how Sefcovic can say with a straight face that his proposal is “simple, understandable and easy to use”.  Considerable improvements still are necessary, if ECI really is to be workable and for this we need sufficient time.  As ECI-Campaign we repeat our credo “quality should go before speed”.  Thus let’s keep on our long work for a citizen-friendly ECI-design and develop a truely workable European Citzens’ Initiative patiently.

Dear friends of the ECI,

We are now in the crucial final phase for developing a citizen-friendly
regulation to implement the European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI). The
European Parliament and the Council, working in co-decision, are currently examining the regulation.

There are several events planned over the coming months, in Brussels,
Austria and Germany, to discuss how exactly we can create a citizen-friendly ECI regulation. Please contact the organisers directly for more information: More…