Representatives of more than 30 Bulgarian civil society organizations participated in a workshop for practical development of ideas for the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI).
The event was held on May 12 in Sofia and was led by Iliana Nikolova – Executive Director of the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation and ambassador of the European Citizens’ Initiative for Bulgaria since 2019.
Among the proposed topics were the introduction of a 4-day working week, restrictions on the use of social networks by children and the creation of stricter regulations for safe internet.
“It was inspiring. It makes great sense for people to know that they can unite and together propose solutions on important public issues,” commented Yana Alexieva from the Parents Association.
The European Citizens’ Initiative enables citizens and their organisations to be directly involved in European policy-making. If an initiative collects at least 1 million signatures from a minimum of seven Member States, the European Commission is obliged to formally examine it and come up with a position. This allows local problems and civic causes to reach the European level and to be discussed in the European institutions.
Since the establishment of the mechanism, more than 120 initiatives have been registered, some of which have already reached the European Commission and received an official response.
So far, 14 initiatives have successfully passed the threshold for support. Some of them are under consideration by the Commission, while others are already leading to specific political and public debates.
Any citizen can set up a European Citizens’ Initiative if they have an idea for change that affects the lives of people in the EU.
Citizens can also support already registered initiatives by giving their signature online.