2008-10-08T07:27:36Z https://www.treffpunkteuropa.de/The-European-Union-and-Civil-Society-Work-in-Progress#comment5493 2008-10-08T07:27:36Z

<p>It is about time, that the European Union implements some direct democratic tools ! Participatory democracy offers the citizens the chance to express their views and opinions and hand them to the commission. It's absolutely necessary for the functioning of the Union that the citizens have the feeling of being heard and that their concerns are of vital importance for the decision makers. As such, the respective citizen's initiative would represent a possibility ; it remains uncertain if this instrument will come into force after the Irish referendum. Nevertheless, there are already about 20 citizen's initiatives referring to the Treaty of Lisbon, which cover a broad range of topics and initiators. The citizen's initiative is of course only one tool – other instruments as, for instance, the possibility of holding a referendum are desirable for the future.</p>