Publication details
European citizens’ initiative : is a year enough to collect a million signatures?
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | EUROPEAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23745118.2025.2565198 |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2025.2565198 |
| Keywords | European union; 12 month; one-year period; agenda setting; European citizens Initiative |
| Description | European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is a research-attractive topic; nevertheless, the question has not yet been raised whether the one-year period for collecting one million signatures is sufficient. During the last reform in 2019, the European Commission dismissed proposals to modify the 12-month limit, despite calls from stakeholders. The only adjustment made pertained to the commencement of the signature collection period. Even with this modification, only 10 out of 120 initiatives have succeeded. This qualitative case study employs a comparative approach, the analysis of primary resources including a questionnaire directed at organisers to assess the timeframe from three perspectives: a comparison with similar tools in EU member states, an examination of stakeholders’ attitudes and an evaluation of the ECI's role within the EU legislative process. The findings indicate that in one-third of the 13 EU countries with comparable agenda-setting instruments, the time limit is either the same or longer than the ECI's. Moreover, most of the 39 respondents expressed an inadequate time limit within the trans-European framework. The article also challenges the Commission’s claim that a brief signature collection period is necessary, uncovering that it takes at least 50 months to transform citizens’ ideas into tangible outcomes in the legislative process. |
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