Exploring the role of the European Economic and Social Committee within and beyond the European citizens’ initiative

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is an EU advisory body that assists the EU legislature in work related to its field of activity, representing the economic and social interests of EU civil society. The literature on the EESC is very limited, despite a long history stretching back to its establishment in 1958. In recent years the EESC has focused its attention on the development of participatory democracy, most notably, the European citizens’ initiative (ECI). The ECI is an instrument of participatory democracy, whereby at least one million signatories from at least one quarter of member states can invite the Commission to adopt legislation or other legal acts. The literature on the ECI is extensive, yet an assessment of the influential role of the EESC therein is missing, and also of the EESC’s wider role in the promotion of participatory democracy. Making this assessment is significant both because of the link between the EESC and civil society, and also because participatory democracy instruments are on the rise, as seen in the current Conference on the Future of Europe. To this end, the paper analyses EESC Opinions and other reports on participatory democracy, particularly the ECI. These indicate that the EESC views itself as a champion of participatory democracy, and a potential ‘institutional facilitator’ and ‘mentor’ in the ECI process, in part to remove possible conflicts of interest (at least in the EESC’s view) from the Commission undertaking these roles. The paper evaluates the merits of the claim to act as institutional ECI facilitator and mentor, with reference to the representative legitimacy of the EESC, its inter-institutional relations within the EU architecture and also – importantly – the implications for the ECI process itself.