THE EUROPEAN CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE AS THE DEMOCRATIC INSTRUMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION ABSTRACT

ĐURIĆ DŽAKIĆ Manja (Fakultet političkih nauka Univerziteta u Banjaluci), manja.djuric@fpn.unibl.org

The aim of the paper is the analysis of the participatory democracy instrument the European citizens\' initiative in the European Union and the results of its introduction. The author starts from the hypothesis that the introduction of the European citizens\' initiative only partially contributed to the strengthening of the role of citizens in the European Union and better functioning of the European Union and that the full potential of this initiative has not been achieved. In the process of elaboration of the citizens\' initiative, the author has used a method of content analysis, induction, deduction, comparison, and method of compilation. The results obtained indicate this is a very complex procedure prescribed for the realization of the European citizens\' initiative and that a small number of initiatives have experienced their success. The extent to which the procedure is prescribed in a cohesive manner is related to the fact that in the realization of the European citizens\' initiative a large number of countries in which different languages are spoken must be involved. Also, the civic committee must consist of a larger number of members with different citizenships. There is a problem with financing, and there are too long deadlines for the European Commission to decide and issue certificates on the number of valid statements on support for the initiative, as well as the obligation to present the initiative to other EU entities. For this reason, it is necessary to start drafting a new Regulation on the European citizens\' initiative, which would simplify the procedure and enable European citizens\' initiatives to experience their full affirmation.

Ključne reči: European citizens’ initiative, participatory democracy, democratic deficit, European Union