Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88906
Title: Direct democracy in the EU : the European citizens' initiative
Authors: Rizzo Naudi, Andrew (2015)
Keywords: European Union
Democracy
Political science
Issue Date: 2015
Citation: Rizzo Naudi, A. (2015). Direct democracy in the EU : the European citizens' initiative (Bachelor’s dissertation).
Abstract: The European Union has often been accused of suffering from a democratic deficit, as its mode of operation appears to be too complex to the ordinary citizen. In order to deal with this issue, the Treaty of Lisbon introduced a new tool that would allow citizens to urge the Commission to propose new legislation and legislative amendments. However this tool, the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), has been met with scepticism and criticism. Its promises for increased citizen participation have so far not been completely fulfilled as there are still various problems in the current mechanism. This dissertation evaluates the difficulties that have been encountered by initiative organisers, and to what extent these difficulties affect the effectiveness of this new transnational tool for direct democracy. By pinpointing the issues with the current mechanism, this study led to a proposal of amendments that could be implemented so as to improve the tool's effectiveness. Moreover, the dissertation also examines the link between direct democracy and representative democracy, and whether they can accompany each other through the ECI system. To date, only two initiatives, "Right2Water" and "One of Us'', have completed the entire ECI procedure, which involves a registration, the collection of a million signatures, and a response from the Commission. Nonetheless, neither initiative has successfully convinced the Commission to propose any legislative amendments or new legislation. These two initiatives were used as case studies to provide an insight into how effective the ECI system has been so far. These case studies were complemented by the findings from interviews and surveys with various organisers of other initiatives. All these accounts allowed for a more comprehensive view of the experience of establishing an initiative under the current system. Whilst the current ECI system has increasingly been targeted by criticism for its apparent lack of success, this study found that it does serve as a means of increasing citizen awareness on important issues. Furthermore, it can strengthen the link between citizens and their representatives in the European Parliament as they push for the Commission to take stronger action on key matters. The ECI is a tool that has a lot of potential, and with the right amendments it could lessen the EU's democratic deficit.
Description: B.EUR.STUD.(HONS)
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88906
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - InsEUS - 1996-2017

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