Towards e-ECIs? European Participation by Online Pan-European Mobilization

Abstract

Using data on 10 pioneer European Citizens' Initiatives (ECIs), this article puts into perspective the traditional obstacles to Euro-mobilization and the potential of e-participation (normalization versus mobilization theses) to shift and/or fade the constraints to the much expected European public sphere (EPS). Taking into account the resources and results of those pan-European ECI campaigns and acknowledging that the internet appears as an indispensable tool to be adopted in the repertoire of action of ECI organizers, the article nevertheless brings critical conclusions about the ability of the internet to significantly modify the traditional constraints met in mobilizing (new) European citizens. By making internet literacy a prerequisite to participation, e-ECIs open up new possibilities but also create new barriers to the EPS and to pan-European participation.

Key Words:

• e-participation
• internet
• European public sphere

Notes

For a review of this debate, see Boulianne (2009), Muhlberger (2003) and Wojcik (2011).

During six months, the author was a member of the executive team that operated the Initiative for the Initiative ECI campaign. Being at the heart of the process, he could not only observe this campaign but also had in-depth insight into other campaigns during different formal and informal meetings where ECI entrepreneurs discussed strategies and exchanged best practices.

It should be noted that much of the history on the pioneer ECIs is disappearing due to the lack of resources of CSOs to manage and organize archives. A feature of the ECI websites can be a temporary presence of websites, and disappearance leaving no trace.

It should be noted that 61.9% (13/21) of the pilot ECIs used the internet as a sole means of collecting supports, whereas 38.1% (8/21) used both online and paper collection of signatures.

Not ignoring the controversy on a ‘genuine’ European civil society and therefore its organizations existing or not, I use this term for practical reasons. For a critical point of view on the ‘European Civil Society’ or ‘European People’, see Michel (2005, 2009).

The ECI official register website of the Commission has been available since 1 April 2012 at http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/

There is evidence from interviews that the practice of campaigners filling in online forms with the agreement of supporters existed in some pioneer ECIs; this was possible because of the low level of data requirement but is not permitted by the legal framework of ECIs.

This led to embarrassing remarks at the final press conference when a journalist looking at the pile of printed supports asked whether the support of ‘Donald Duck’ would really be taken into account. There is no clear idea on the proportion of false signatures to this ECI but the organizers acknowledged there were some.