Introduced on 1 April 2012 by the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Citizens' Initiative is the most important instrument of participative democracy in the European Union. By collecting at least 1 million signatures from at least 7 EU Member States, citizens have the right to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act or modify the existing one. This Guide is to provide you with an idea of how to get involved. In nine steps, it explains what organisers of a European Citizens' Initiative have to do, at what point, what the hurdles and procedures are: from the first idea to registration, collecting signatures to, hopefully, presenting your million signatures to the European Commission.
