by Anna Buch, Ana Muñoz Padrós, Beatriz Paúl Naya and Anna Rydholm From 2011 on, Europeans will live in a more democratic union. At least, that was intended by establishing the European citizens` initiative which gives Europeans the possibility to put forward legislative proposals. As democracy is supposed to be the political system in...
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By Bobbie van der List, Bart de Bruijn and Kai Heijneman What’s the deal with this democratic element in non-democratic Europe? One wouldn’t associate a Citizens’ initiative with the EU institutions. Why is that, you may ask? Well, only the European Parliament is chosen directly by it’s citizens. Other institutions aren’t democratic at all....
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The Lisbon treaty grants a new right to European citizens : the possibility to take part in legislative propositions. Could this be the answer to a lack of democracy in the community?
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Citizens’ initiative widens gap between the EU and its inhabitants ‘The Citizens initiative will introduce a whole new form of participatory democracy to the EU,’ said Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President for Inter-institutional Relations and Administration. That is a whole lot of words for a proposal in its developing state. Whoever takes a closer look at...
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By Michael Huguenin, Piers d’Orgee and Steffen Windfeld-Hansen The European Citizens’ Initiative is in its final stages of development, but negotiations over fine details continue to draw out the process. European politicians continue to squabble over how the ECI is to be conducted. The general concept is still considered to be a huge improvement...
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