You're listening to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on the review of the European Citizens Initiative.

Given the high expectations, the European Citizens Initiative, which allows one million citizens to ask the Commission to draft a new law has had a poor track record since 2012,

with only four initiatives of the 66 submitted successfully reaching the threshold.

To instill some new life into this fragile democratic instrument,

Commission wants to simplify procedures and make it more user-friendly.

But will it do the trick? Stay with us. This is about your rights.

The active participation of citizens in political life is not only desirable, but an essential

condition of any democracy. So this is easier said than done. When it was first incorporated

into the treaties in 2007, the European Citizens Initiative was championed as a new

tool with the potential to reduce the distance between ordinary people and EU institutions.

But what does it consist of?

It allows 1 million citizens to ask the Commission to take the initiative and table a new

law in the framework of its powers to address a specific concern.

But while some welcomed it with high hopes, many others, including the European Parliament

and the Ombudsman, saw in its serious flaws that could hinder its success.

And time seems to have proved them right. Five years after it became applicable in 2012,

the European Citizens Initiative has not had the results anticipated by its supporters

in terms of closing the EU's legitimacy gap.

Out of a total of 66 initiatives submitted to the Commission, 47 were registered, but only

four managed to obtain the required 1 million signatures.

The successful four are the One of Us initiative to stop EU funds for R&D activities involving

the destruction of human embryos, the Ban Glyphosate Initiative, stop vivisection and right to water.

...