EU: Initiative Citoyenne Européenne - Toujours plus de Démocratie Directe !

Initiative Citoyenne Européenne - toujours plus de démocratie directe !

Institutions - 06-10-2008 - 16:05

Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/008-38745-338-12-49-901-20081006STO38717-2008-03-12-2008/default_fr.htm

"1 million de voix. 1 message : mettre fin à la pauvreté".
La démocratie participative moderne pourrait-elle établir un rapprochement entre l'Europe et ses citoyens? C'est en tout cas ce à quoi aspire le nouveau traité de l'Union européenne qui, bien que toujours en attente après le « non » irlandais du mois de juin, inclut, pour la première fois à un niveau supranational, un droit à l'initiative pour les citoyens européens.

De quoi s'agit-il exactement?

L'Initiative Citoyenne Européenne (ICE), qui a été introduite par le Traité de Lisbonne, correspond à la première mise au point d'un instrument transnational de démocratie directe. Grâce à cet instrument, les citoyens pourront avoir l'opportunité de demander à la Commission européenne de proposer de nouvelles lois européennes après avoir récolté un million de signatures à travers un certain nombre d'Etats-membres.

Le but d'un tel accroissement de la participation des citoyens est de rendre l'Union européenne plus réactive, plus représentative et plus légitime. Il s'agit en réalité d'une forme de démocratie directe qui atteint pour la première fois un niveau supranational.

L'Initiative Citoyenne Européenne sera-t-elle mise en pratique ?

Le 18 septembre 2008, la commission parlementaire des affaires constitutionnelles (AFCO) s'est penchée sur la mise au point de lignes directrices pour l'exécution de l'ICE ainsi que sur la préparation du rapport de Mme Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann (allemande, membre du groupe GUE/NGL) sur le sujet, en vue d'une proposition de régulation pour sa mise en vigueur.

Ouvrant le débat, le président de l'AFCO, M. Jo Leinen (allemand, membre du PSE) a rappelé que le but de cette initiative était de transformer l'Europe des Etats en l'Europe des citoyens. C'est de cette manière que sera donnée la possibilité aux citoyens de s'impliquer davantage dans l'Europe. Par ailleurs, M. Leinen a précisé qu'il espérait que le Traité de Lisbonne soit adopté avant les élections européennes de 2009.

Le Professeur Jürgen Meyer, ancien membre du Bundenstag (Parlement allemand) et de la Convention européenne (qui a travaillé sur le projet de constitution européenne) et appartenant au groupe de personnes à l'origine de cette initiative, a expliqué pourquoi le million de signatures à atteindre n'est pas un chiffre anodin car il donnera à l'initiative un certain poids. En ce qui concerne le nombre d'Etats-membres dont devraient provenir les signatures, il estime qu'il en faut au moins quatre mais pas plus de six et que la manière de les collecter devra être la moins bureaucratique possible et s'inscrire dans un laps de temps de un à deux ans.

Le rapporteur Mme Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann précisa que, contrairement à ce que l'on pourrait penser, il ne s'agit pas d'une pétition à grande échelle mais bien d'un nouvel instrument permettant de faciliter la démocratie participative supranationale. Par ailleurs, il s'agira d'une porte ouverte à la démocratie directe qui encouragera les citoyens à participer activement à l'Europe. Il est toutefois primordial que l'ICE s'inscrive dans les traditions juridiques (et culturelles) des différents Etats pour être légitime.

A noter enfin que les membres d'ONG ont également souligné l'importance d'un cadre juridique approprié pour l'ICE, incluant notamment la possibilité de faire appel en cas d'irrecevabilité. Ils ont également insisté sur le fait que tous les habitants de l’Union européenne, et pas seulement les citoyens, devraient avoir y avoir accès.

Le rapport devrait être voté en commission parlementaire en janvier 2009.

EU: Lisbon Treaty Would Bring Trans-border Direct Democracy

The Lisbon Treaty, if approved, contains a provision that would see the current spread of direct democracy in the E.U. achieve a new dimension. If enough signatures are gathered, a referendum can be held on new or existing E.U. laws. This would be the first example of referendum trancending national borders as the votte would be held in multiple countries simultaneously. -Editor

Public to have more say with 1 million EU signature plan

Institutions - 06-10-2008 - 14:17
Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/008-38745-338-12-49-901-20081006STO38717-2008-03-12-2008/default_en.htm

"1 million voices, 1 Message, End poverty": German Chancellor Merkel in June '07

Citizens could have a direct impact on EU law if the Lisbon Treaty comes into force if they can gather at least 1 million signatures from across the EU. The treaty would allow citizens to ask for new EU laws or a review of existing ones. MEPs recently discussed how the signatures would be collected, verified and what would be the legal obligation to act.

Discussions by MEPs on the Constitutional Affairs Committee on 18 September come ahead of a report on the subject by Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann of the GUE/NGL group. She believes the legal position needs clarification.

Democratic "directness" appreciated

The introduction of such a system by the reform treaty would make it the first example of direct democracy between several different countries.

MEPs heard from many NGO representatives who said the move would make the EU's institutions more open to people. Several speakers thought that not just EU citizens but people who are resident in the Union should also be allowed to take part.

One million signatures represents 0.2% of the EU population. There was some discussion about whether it should be exactly 1 million (for example is 970,000 acceptable?) - and how many countries it should come from.

Don't set hurdle of participation too high

Professor Jürgen Meyer, a former member of the Bundestag said that the 1 million mark gave it weight but did not set the hurdle too high.

There was also some debate about how to collect signatures, how they should be verified and how long people should have to collect them. Whether electronic signatures were acceptable and should people give their address were also issues.

The chair of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, German Socialist Jo Leinen thought the signature idea would lead to more involvement by people in the running of the EU. He hoped the reform treaty would be adopted before the European parliamentary elections in June next year.

Ms Kaufmann said the initiative opens the door for direct democracy and is a new legal tool. She also said that it was important to draw on the legal traditions across different countries and cultures.

The report is expected by January.

EU: France and Other States Experiment with Direct Democracy

France and Other States Experiment with Direct Democracy

Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,568717,00.html

Paris recently moved to give its citizens the right to decide on major European Union issues like expansion. The move is just the latest in European experimentation with direct democracy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy narrowly pushed through a reform to France's constitution last week that creates the prospect of more referendums in the future on the key European Union issue of expansion. The fact that the French now have the right to directly vote on one of the EU's most important issues could mean that the union's core project, expansion, will become unpredictable. Under the newly reformed constitution, narrowly approved on July 21, French voters will be allowed to have their say on issues such as future Turkish EU membership.

There are conditions on the new reform, though: Parliament, for example, can put the brakes on any EU referendum. In order to do so, members of parliament in both the lower and upper chambers -- the French National Assembly and the Senate -- must vote with a three-fifths majority either for or against a country's accession. Sarkozy sought to secure the power to decide whether voters should be able to hold a referendum or not for himself; but parliament refused to back down.

Following Ireland's referendum in June -- which saw voters there reject the Lisbon Treaty, the legaleze-filled document that replaced the draft EU constitution (which had in turn been rejected by French and Dutch voters) -- Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer also demanded that future EU treaty changes be decided by referendum. "We think any future changes to the treaty that affect Austrian interests must be decided in Austria by referendum," he said. His remarks, though, did little to save his wobbling government, which collapsed soon thereafter.

In Germany, the federal constitution, or Basic Law, doesn't envision referenda at the national level, but opportunities are increasing for direct democracy at the local level (more...). In Berlin, for example, voters recently rejected a referendum that called for Tempelhof Airport (more...), the historic site of the Berlin Airlift, to be kept open despite the city government's plan to close it.

SPIEGEL has compiled a map on the varying degrees of direct democracy in EU member states. You can click on the graphic above for more details.

dsl/spiegel