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BackFrom the point of view of employees, the introduction of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) represents one of the most important innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon. The ECI has the potential to narrow the frequently diagnosed gap between the EU and its citizens.
Against this background it is important that the more detailed provisions, which the Green Paper has put up for discussion, firstly promote the citizens’ involvement and their readiness to take the initiative and secondly that the results of an ECI are taken seriously. Otherwise the new instrument is in danger of becoming a democratic policy alibi, which only further strengthens the reputation of the EU as “a Europe removed from its citizens under the control of elites”.
