The Lisbon Treaty and Citizens' Initiatives (East Yorkshire Liberal Democrats)

East Yorkshire Liberal Democrats <pamdaveaustin@talktalk.net>

The Lisbon Treaty and Citizens' Initiatives

December 2, 2009 4:20 PM
Originally published by Diana Wallis MEP

Diana Wallis MEP accepting signatures in August 2008 from across the EU collected in support of a European Citizens' Initiative. One of the results of the Lisbon Treaty coming into force yesterday, December 1st, is that the European Citizens' Initiative comes a step closer.

The European Citizens' Initiative enables the public to call on the European Commission to bring forwards new legislation and is something that Diana Wallis MEP has been pushing for several years. She said in Brussels yesterday:

"Contrary to popular myth, the Lisbon Treaty actually extends democracy to the peoples of the EU. As part of that development, the citizens' initiative will provide a means for people to express themselves and to have direct influence on EU policy making."

"The Citizens' Initiative enables one million citizens who are nationals of a significant number of Member Stats directly request that the Commission brings forward an initiative of interest to them in an area of EU competence. However, there remain a number of decisions which need to be made about how to make it fully functional and as a result the Commission has launched a public consultation."

Link to the European Commission's page on a public consultation on the European Citizens' Initiative:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/citizens_initiative/index_en.htm

(Pic shows Diana Wallis MEP accepting signatures in August 2008 from across the EU collected in support of a European Citizens' Initiative. Also shown are Vice President Gerard Onesta MEP (2nd left) and the former Vice-President Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann MEP accepting the ECI-signatures on behalf of the President of the European Parliament from activist Carsten Page)