Rejected by Brussels for its lack of a legal basis, the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) calling for an end to the EU’s free trade negotiations with the US and Canada was yesterday (10 May) vindicated by the Court of Justice of the EU. EURACTIV France reports.

The European Commission had no legitimate reason to oppose the “Stop TTIP” ECI, the EU’s top court ruled on Wednesday.

The initiative calls on the European institutions and the EU member states to stop their negotiations with the United States on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and not to ratify the recently-concluded free trade agreement with Canada (CETA).

Commission opposes European Citizens' Initiative against TTIP The European Citizens’ Initiative STOP TTIP has been dismissed by the European Commission. Its organisers now want to take the decision to the European courts.

But the Commission blocked the ECI, submitted by the NGO ATTAC in Germany and supported by the Greens, on institutional grounds. This move was denounced by the initiative’s supporters, who took their fight to the EU’s General Court in an attempt to have the decision annulled.

One million signatures

If an ECI collects one million signatures from at least seven member states, the Commission is obliged to take action. With more than three million signatures, the “Stop TTIP” initiative was particularly successful and more than qualified for consideration from Brussels.

Three million people unite to derail TTIP A petition signed by three million people against the EU-US trade deal will be handed to the European Commission on Wednesday (7 October).

According to the judges, the Commission’s arguments did not stand up against the ECI’s objective to “improve the democratic functioning of the EU by granting every citizen a general right to participate in democratic life”.

“Contrary to the Commission’s contentions,” the court’s press release stated, “nothing prevents […] the institutions of the EU from negotiating and concluding new draft transatlantic free-trade agreements following the adoption by the Council of acts which are the object of that proposal”.

The ruling was welcomed in a tweet by the European Parliament’s Greens group as “good news for democracy”.

Good news for European democracy!! @EUCourtPress annuls EC's decision to refuse the registration of Stop TTIP ECI https://t.co/cn9WcsXJ7P pic.twitter.com/NfpDxIeoof — Greens in the EP (@GreensEP) May 10, 2017

Wednesday’s judgement “has made evident that the European Commission’s use of legalistic arguments to refuse to register the Stop TTIP EU Citizens’ Initiative was a violation of citizens’ democratic rights,” said Green MEP Josep Maria Terricabras.

“We owe it to the over three million citizens that signed this ECI to finally make the European Citizens’ Initiative a fully functional tool of direct democracy in Europe,” he added.

Contacted by EURACTIV, the EU executive said it was committed to examining the conclusions of the judgement, while stressing the recent change in the rules governing ECIs: successful petitions are now discussed during meetings of the College of Commissioners, which implies that any decision will be made by the whole executive team.

Reforms to come

In the five years since it was launched, the ECI has failed in its objective of strengthening citizen participation in the democratic process.

Since 2012, just three ECIs, out of the forty or so submitted, have crossed the million signature threshold. The Commission has promised to review the instrument in 2017.

Reformed ECI should make policymaking 'more accessible' Five years after its launch, the EU’s tool of participatory democracy has never really worked. But Brussels last week announced plans for an overhaul of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). EURACTIV France reports.