Brussels 04.06.2024 The European Commission spokesperson denied the Members of the European Parliament sharp criticism of the failure to implement the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) as an instrument of participatory democracy.

This policy tool was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty enabling in 2009 the EU citizens to directly demand the Commission for legislative proposals on an issue of concern in the frame of the EU competence. A successful ECI requires the collection, within one year, of more than one million support signatures of EU citizens from at least seven member states. Ten ECIs have been successful so far since 2007, and six of these are related to animal welfare and conservation.

According to the Lisbon Treaty the ECIs should be a key instrument for participatory democracy, but the frustrating reality is that the European Commission has failed to implement them. The calls of eight ECIs were not taken up at all and only two were implemented regarding secondary objectives.

A political scientist working in particular in the field of deliberative and participatory democracy at transnational level – Carsten Berg – has highlighted that there is an urgent need for a deep and meaningful reform of democratic rights both in secondary and primary law and encouraged the European Parliament and civil society to join forces. He advised to keep the pressure on the Commission for delivering on their promises, especially when it comes to the ECI  “End the Cage Age” but also for all other animal related ECIs.

During the hearing of the European Parliament Animal welfare intergroup under the chairmanship of MEP Tilly Metz, the Head of Compassion in World Farming Olga Kikou pointed at the  need of protecting openness and transparency in the EU democratic sphere”. Indeed, three years ago, the European Commission made a legally binding commitment to propose a cage ban for all species named in the ECI “End Cage Age”. However, all this was derailed as were most other new legislative proposals for farmed animals and the environment. They were not delivered or weakened, essentially killing the agricultural part of the EU’s Green Deal.

By finding powerful allies in the political spheres, the industrial farming lobby managed with fear-mongering tactics about rising costs and loss of competitiveness to hijack the Green Deal’s narrative and to divert attention from the fact that it is speculation on the financial markets that drove the cost-of-living crisis.

By avoiding to deliver on the commitments, the Commission prioritised big business interests over those of EU citizens.

All this bears the risk of making the ECI instrument de facto void and demonstrates that Treaty obligations are systemically neglected. A likely consequence will be growing distrust and skepticism towards the EU, which raises concerns in view of the upcoming European elections.

According to the projections the anti-European populists are likely to top the polls in nine member states – Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia, and come second or third in a further nine countries – Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.