Dear ,

Thanks to thousands of you who support giving a seat to citizens at the EU decision-making table, there has been more public interest in the European Citizens’ Initiative than ever before! 

Democracy International, The ECI Campaign, WeMove.EU, Mehr Demokratie and ECAS teamed together to find areas where the ECI needs work and to encourage citizens to take interest in the revision process. Over 5,000 people took part in the Commission’s Public Consultation questionnaire, which was open for twelve weeks and closed on August 16^th. 

Throughout the month of August, we jointly launched a petition demanding that the Commission take the ECI revision process seriously and consider our proposals for reform. Because of you, we were able to collect over 100,000 signatures of support! The remarkable number of citizens who supported the petition sent a clear message to the Commission that Europeans want a strong ECI that works.

Finally, on August 30^th, we had a stakeholders’ meeting with First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, regarding the ECI and our reform proposals. We had a productive exchange of views and handed over more than 100,000 signatures of support for the ECI revision. We reiterated that we welcome an ECI that is more user-friendly, more well-known amongst citizens, and with a stronger follow-up by the Commission for successful ECIs. The Commission expressed that it feels strongly encouraged by us for having reached out to so many citizens to take interest in the ECI, and it was confirmed that the ECI will see a proposal for a revision by the end of the year. Until then, Democracy International, The ECI Campaign, WeMove.EU, Mehr Demokratie and ECAS will continue to support the ECI revision by maintaining pressure on the Commission to regard the ECI as important as we do. 

Watch a recap from our meeting:

​

Each signature and each completed questionnaire submitted to the Commission was meaningful. Before announcing the proposed revision to the ECI later this year, the Commission will take into consideration the results of the Public Consultation, the report by the European Parliament with recommendations for the ECI’s revision, and the pressure by citizens and civil society alike to use this unique opportunity to strengthen the ECI or risk losing the only tool of transnational participatory democracy that exists.  

Best regards,

Daniela Vancic

European Programme Manager

P.S.: To stay updated on ECI developments, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Forward this email to your friends interested in improving the ECI!

Democracy International fights to strengthen direct democracy worldwide. Our work centres around fostering direct democracy, citizen participation and transparent decision-making, as well as supporting activists around the world. You can support our work with a donation or by becoming a sponsor.

Information about the campaign

The campaign "Europe for the citizens - now!" was launched by the organizations Democracy International e.V., Mehr Demokratie e.V., The ECI Campaign, ECAS, and WeMove.EU and calls for the reform of the European Citizens' Initiative. The signatures of the petition were handed over to the EU Commission in Brussels on 30.08.2017.