Starting in April 2012, European citizens can propose legislation in any of the European Commission’s fields of competence via the European Citizens’ Initiative (hereinafter the ECI). This is a new tool for European citizen participation that offers new opportunities and also present new challenges. One month after its entry into force, we want to launch a space to provide information about the ECI and the reflections and debates that the initiative is generating throughout Europe.

What does the ECI consist of? What is its added value with respect to other tools? What is the role of each stakeholder (the European Commission, member states, civil society)? What do the ECI Regulations require, which were approved in February 2011 by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union? What unknowns does it open up? What subjects can be considered in an ECI? How is the procedure developed in each country? What impact will it have on advancing the practice of European citizenship? These are some of the questions that will be dealt with during the conference to be held in Barcelona on 11 May 2012 and during similar conferences to be held in other European cities during 2012.

The conference will outline basic matters about the ECIs that are open to citizens, but it also aims to generate debate about specialized subjects related to the ECIs through the holding of parallel workshops during the conference. For this reason, the conference will bring together specialists in this area, but also the general public who is interested in citizen participation and the construction of European participative democracy. More than 100 people are expected.