ECI DAY 2015: Review-Renew-Reset!, Brussel - Hoofdinhoud

Brussels, Belgium

Introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is the most important instrument for direct democracy at European level. Three years after its launch, the time has come for an assessment and potential reset of the ECI legal framework, particularly Regulation 211/2011.

On 1 April 2015, the European Commission will present an assessment report on the first three years of ECI practice. In 2014, the European Ombudsman carried out an own-initiative inquiry in order to receive feedback on how effectively the ECI procedure was working.

This year's ECI Day will focus on the conclusions of these two reports. The presentation of these reports is a very valuable opportunity for the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) as well as ECI stakeholders and the other European institutions, which have been participating in ECI discussions, to reflect on the reports.

The ECI Day serves as a meeting place and platform for registered and future ECI organisers to meet and exchange information and experiences, and present their ECI to the media. The ECI campaigners and stakeholders will invite you to their stands outside the conference rooms where they will be presenting their initiatives and activities.

ECI DAY 2015: Review-Renew-Reset!

On Monday 13 April - 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.

At the EESC building

99 Belliard Street 1040 Brussel

The event will focus on:

• - 

  The reports from the European Commission and the European Ombudsman on the ECI procedure
• - 

  ECI renewal and resetting
• - 

  The different perspectives: users, Member States, European Parliament and support structures.

In the afternoon, an Open Space event will be laid on. Workshop themes will be suggested on the spot, centring around the three main themes: agenda setting, citizens' dialogue and participatory democracy. Each person proposing a workshop theme will chair the workshop and produce a recommendation which will be put to the vote.

The conference will be opened by EESC president Henri Malosse, and keynote speakers will include Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Better Regulation, Inter-institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Emily O'Reilly, European Ombudsman. In addition, we will have an insightful contribution from MEPs Beatriz Becerra and György Schöpflin as well as ECI organisers, experts from the Commission's ECI expert group and members of the EESC's ECI ad hoc group.

As in the past, we will give the floor to several ECI campaigners, researchers and EU institution representatives to provide a holistic and multi-faceted overview of the ECI and its development.

If you wish to be kept updated on ECI developments and future EESC events on the ECI, please email CitizensInitiative or keep an eye on www.eesc.europa.eu/eciday2015.

The ECI Day 2015 partners:

• - 

  Committee of the Regions
• - 

  Democracy International
• - 

  European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)
• - 

  The ECI Campaign
• - 

  Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe (IRI Europe)
• - 

  People2power
• - 

  Swissinfo