[p2p-research] Fwd: New European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) Petion by AAvaaz.org

Wed Nov 24 22:58:38 CET 2010

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Maria Agnese Giraudo <mariaagneseg at gmail.com>
Date: 2010/11/25
Subject: New European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) Petion by AAvaaz.org
To: Libertà e Giustizia <info at libertaegiustizia.it>, Massimo Marnetto <
massimo.marnetto at gmail.com>, Chiara Pozzi <chiarapozzi at hotmail.com>, Gianani
Cinthia <cinthia.gianani at mit.gov.it>, Maria Ranieri <maria.ranieri at unifi.it>,
Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>, Susanne Bardeleben <
maba41 at libero.it>, cecilia polce <fedand at libero.it>, raimundoper <
raimundoper at yahoo.com>
Cc: Maria Agnese Giraudo <mariaagnesegiraudo at yahoo.it>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Avaaz.org <avaaz at avaaz.org>
Date: 2010/11/24
Subject: Thanks for taking action
To: mariaagneseg at gmail.com

Thank you for signing the petition calling on the EU to adopt strong
regulations for the new European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) that encourage
and facilitate citizen participation.

The ECI regulations are being decided right now and leading MEPs will
present our petition in every back room and closed door negotiation in
Brussels over the next few days. Let's build it and make it unmissable --
Spread the word by forwarding the original Avaaz email below to friends and
family, and post this link on Facebook:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_citizens_initiative/97.php?cl_tta_sign=48a236dddd2591f76365e911bbb04cdd

Thanks so much,

The Avaaz Team

---------------

Dear friends,

Right now behind closed doors, European officials are deciding the fate of a
ground-breaking democratic reform that could change EU politics, up to now
dominated by an elite of governments, powerful companies and lobbyists.

The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) requires the EU commission to act
when it receives a request from over 1 million citizens. It's a radical
innovation in EU governance, but it has some officials scared. They're
trying to bury the ECI in a mountain of red tape - throwing up damaging
barriers to citizens' participation.

Several members of the European Parliament are passionately fighting to
protect the ECI. We urgently need a massive citizen outcry to weigh in on
their side and shame the blocking governments and officials into creating
the direct democracy that citizens want. Sign the petition below -- MEP
Gerald Häfner, who is at the forefront of the negotiations, will present our
petition in every Brussels back room meeting where it can make a difference:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_citizens_initiative/97.php?cl_tta_sign=48a236dddd2591f76365e911bbb04cdd

For decades the European Union has been accused of suffering from overly
complex, undemocratic decision-making processes that make EU politics
inaccessible to citizens. But now, the ECI, introduced by the Lisbon Treaty
last year, could be a real turning point in efforts to address the EU's
democratic deficit.

Some member states, who fear greater citizen participation in the
legislative process, are insisting that each ECI signer should provide the
number of their ID card or passport number - a requirement that would
radically decrease participation. Independent data protection bodies in
Europe say ID numbers are not necessary for verifying signers -- in fact
gathering this data is intrusive and can lead to identity fraud.

The European Commission has also proposed a short timeline and unnecessary
country quotas for signatures that would de facto exclude many citizens’
groups from using the ECI. The Parliament has countered these with citizen
friendly requirements -- a 18-month deadline for signature collection, and
country quotas in just one fifth of all EU Member States.

Avaaz is already using the ECI to improve European democracy -- we've
gathered over 1 million signers and are submitting the first ever ECI to
freeze all genetically modified crops from entering Europe. But this and
every other future initiative we build could be crippled if the officials
manage to railroad through their stringent conditions.

Negotiations are at the critical last phase -- let's make the ECI work, and
make European governance work for us. Sign the petition now, and forward
this message to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_citizens_initiative/97.php?cl_tta_sign=48a236dddd2591f76365e911bbb04cdd

With hope,

Luis, Benjamin, Alice, Paula, Alex, Ben, Pascal, Ricken and the entire Avaaz
team.

SOURCES:

European Voice, "MEPs look to make it easier to launch citizens'
initiatives":
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/meps-look-to-make-it-easier-to-launch-citizens-initiatives/69310.aspx

Initiative for the ECI, "Parliament can still prevent member states
weakening ECI":
http://www.citizens-initiative.eu/?p=374

More information about the "Campaign for a citizen-friendly European
Citizens’ Initiative (ECI)":
http://www.citizens-initiative.eu

Democracy International promotes direct democracy, and is the umbrella
organisation sponsoring the ECI-Campaign:
www.democracy-international.org

------------------------------

*
Avaaz.org is a 5.5-million-person global campaign network* that works to
ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global
decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz
members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13
countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of
Avaaz's biggest campaigns here <http://www.avaaz.org/en/highlights?footer>,
or follow us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/Avaaz> or
Twitter<http://twitter.com/Avaaz>
.

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