Statistics show that most of the signatures (around 75%) come from five big EU member states, that is Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Poland. However, relative numbers show that some of the smaller Central and Eastern European Countries have also actively used European Citizens’ Initiative. For example in Estonia more than 5% of all inhabitants signed an ECI, which is certainly an impressive result in comparison to France where only 0,5% did it.
The paper will analyze the extent to which the European Citizens’ Initiative has been used in Central and Eastern European Countries, and in particular the type of organisational supporters, the campaigns which have attracted most support in CEECs, and explore the reasons for these patterns. It will also explore whether the existence of a national citizens’ initiative instrument in a particular CEEC has any effect on the interest in the ECI in that member state, as well as assess the future of the ECI in a region facing number of democratic challenges.
Analysis of these national campaigns carry potential to learn about the role of organisations and mechanisms ‘bridging’ territorial levels of contention and the circulation of narratives in countries with shorter traditions of civil rights, and in which trade unions have dominated the landscape of civil society organisations. The ECI apparatus, and the legacy of recent campaigns, provide a unique opportunity to capture analysis involving the circulation of narratives between different territorial levels.
