In a community as large as the European Union it can be hard to give citizens a voice.  However, the Lisbon Treaty will do just that. It gives one million citizens the right to petition the European Commission to suggest laws on issues they feel are important (Article 11 TEU). This is the most direct means by which EU citizens can participate in European governance. There is no other initiative that could permit such a direct form of citizen participation.

One million signatures may sound like a tall order but, in an era in which people keep in contact with 400 of their closest friends via Facebook, Bebo or Myspace, it is not an unattainable goal. The citizens will also have to come from a minimum number of member states (Article 11 TEU, Article 24 TFEU), meaning suggestions for laws must have wide cross-country support. Additionally, citizens’ suggestions do not automatically become law — the Commission has to put forward a proposal for consideration by our national representatives. This may seem like an empty gesture, but, when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. The population of the European Union is huge – almost five hundred million people. It would be monstrously undemocratic if one million of those people, a measly 0.2% of the population of the EU give or take, could impose laws on the rest of us simply because 1 million people had an axe to grind and were able to wield a pen.  Thus, the citizens’ initiative allows for participative democracy without being itself undemocratic. A final safeguard ensures that like all aspects of European law, any suggestion by citizens will only be considered if it is in an area in which the member states have decided to give the EU the power to legislate.

The citizens’ initiative provides unprecedented access for us, the people of Europe, to the EU’s law-making process — more than any national government in any member state. If we want to increase the input of citizens into the EU’s democratic process, we should vote YES to Lisbon.