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<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Do you remember <em>One of Us</em>?
</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Launched in 2012, this petition was the largest citizens’ initiative </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>in
the history of the European Union (EU)</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>and collected nearly 2 million
signatures</b></span> from across Europe! It was driven by civil society, dozens of
associations, and thousands of volunteers worked to collect signatures
across Europe. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>It called for a ban on</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>European funding </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>for programs
involving the destruction of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">human embryos and foetuses </span></b></span>(See the <a href="https://eclj.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=567507fce24ff5f4d84cc3e33&id=6eea8c330a&e=20cba54488" style="color:rgb(43,170,223);font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">hearing at the European Parliament here</a>).</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><br>
Presented as an instrument to democratize the EU, the European Citizens’
Initiative (ECI) sought to bring the Union closer to the citizens.</b></span> It
was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 and Regulation No 211/2011
of the European Parliament and the Council. The ECI was intended to
overcome the lack of democracy in a Union which, since its origin, left
the legislative initiative monopoly to the sole "bureaucratic" power of
the Commission. The purpose of the ECI was to break into that monopoly
and share the power of initiative with European citizens.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><br>
But, despite the political expediency of <em>One of Us’ </em>legislative proposal, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Commission simply refused to </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>follow up on the <em>One of Us</em> initiative</b></span>. The Commission certainly did not expect the greatest citizens’ initiative to be one <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>that defended human<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> life ...</span></b></span></p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>
</b></span><p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><br>
Prior to launching its campaign</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the ECI, <em>One of Us</em>, was
examined and then admitted </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>by registration before the Commission</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Why,
then, did the Commission let <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">European citizens</span> waste their <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">time</span> </b></span>
gathering millions of signatures if in the end <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Commission was going
to arbitrarily dismiss <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the ECI’s proposal</span>,</b></span> when it could have done so
from the beginning? Such absolute power undermines the utility of the
ECI by <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>giving false hope</b><b> to </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Europeans as the citizens’ initiative</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>only
artificially activates people’s participation in <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">European political life</span>
without providing any <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">means of real change</span>.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><br>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><em>One of Us</em> challenged </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Commission’s decision </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>at the European Court of Justice.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><a href="https://eclj.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=567507fce24ff5f4d84cc3e33&id=5a74ae28d2&e=20cba54488" style="color:rgb(43,170,223);text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">The hearing was held on 16 June 2017</a>, and <font size="4"><u>the judgment will be rendered <span class="gmail-aBn" tabindex="0"><span class="gmail-aQJ">Monday, 23 April 2018</span></span>.</u></font></b></span> As such, now is an important opportunity for an update on the important issues at stake in this case.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><br>
In contesting the Commission's decision before the General Court, <em>One of Us </em>asks
the judges to make the ECI mechanism effective by recognizing that the
Commission's decision is subject to judicial review. <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Through this case,
the Court has the opportunity to <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">democratize </span>the European Union <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">by
ending</span> the <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">monopoly </span>of legislative initiative enjoyed by the European
Commission.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><br>
Here are the different positions that the General Court could adopt and the consequences that would follow:</p>
<ul style="text-align:justify">
<li>If the Court declares the Commission's refusal to comply with the
ECI is proper, it solidifies the Commission's monopoly of initiative and
validates the Commission's power to dismiss, without any possible
recourse, initiatives supported by millions of people. <br>
This instrument of participatory democracy would then be purely fictitious: a democratic illusion.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align:justify">
<li>On the other hand, if the judges consider that the Commission's
action is open to challenge and therefore agree to take a decision on
the merits, they will then give real effectiveness to the mechanism of
the European Citizens' Initiative. This would be a profound
institutional upheaval for the Union: the European Commission would lose
its monopoly on legislative initiative and would have to share it with
the European citizens, under the supervision of the Court!</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%">A
new alternative would then be available to the Court: if it
acknowledges the decision of the Commission is challengeable, it will
find it satisfactory, then dismissing <em>One of Us </em>on the merits, or unsatisfactory, then condemning the Commission.</p>
<ul style="text-align:justify">
<li>If the Tribunal agrees with <em>One of Us </em>on the merits of the
case, this will be a major victory but not yet final, because it would
be very likely that the Commission would appeal immediately.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align:justify">
<li>Conversely, if the Court agrees with the Commission's merits, it
will breach the monopoly of the latter's legislative initiative without
giving the Commission the opportunity to appeal. The democratic
functioning of the Union would be greatly improved. Strategically, this
would be a wise decision by the Court.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin:10px 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(32,32,32);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%"><br>
Thus, ultimately, whatever the outcome of the judgment, the European Commission loses, and <em>One of Us </em>wins.</p>
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