Date: 2013
Type: Article
Is the European citizen’s initiative a serious threat for the community method?
European Journal of Legal Studies, 2013, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 91-107
VOGIATZIS, Nikos, Is the European citizen’s initiative a serious threat for the community method?, European Journal of Legal Studies, 2013, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 91-107
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/28731
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This article proceeds to a normative claim that the potential of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) – an instrument expected to increase democratic legitimacy in the EU – should be evaluated in the light of the post-Lisbon Community method and not as an additional ‘opportunity structure for citizens’ participation’. The first section explains why the Community method is primarily a mechanism of ‘output legitimacy’, even after the Lisbon Treaty. Furthermore, the legal framework of the ECI (notably the Regulation 211/2011 but also the Commission’s Green Paper preceding the adoption of the Regulation) is provided. The evaluation section concludes that the ECI’s legislative framework, far from an instrument of direct democracy, perhaps an additional ‘opportunity structure’, cannot affect the Community method nor seriously increase democratic legitimacy at the EU level due to the – simultaneous – presence of two thresholds: the intactness of the Commission’s legislative monopoly and the burdensome formalities imposed upon citizens and organisers.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/28731
ISSN: 1973-2937
External link: https://ejls.eui.eu/