'Towards a revision of the European citizens' initiative' published last month, is the latest report to highlight problems with the EU's troubled scheme that was introduced to "bring Europe closer to its citizens" by offering the possibility of putting forward ideas for new EU legislation.
The 60-page document, commissioned by the European parliament's petitions committee, outlines the many inherent difficulties faced by organisations in attempting to run an ECI, as well as proposing recommendations for overhauling the process.
Introduced in 2012, ECI is essentially a formalised petition system - with the basic criteria that each idea must secure at least one million signatures from a minimum of seven EU countries.
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ECI was touted as a flagship instrument in driving participatory democracy at EU level, however, it's now widely accepted that the scheme has failed to live up to its early promise with citizen groups struggling to cope with the system's complexity and bureaucracy.
"Among the current obstacles faced by ECI organisers and citizens," say the report's authors Marta Ballesteros and Sara Fiorentini of Milieu Ltd. in Belgium, "the main ones concern IT and legal requirements [and] the definition of the scope and the legal basis for launching an ECI".
There are also problems with the EU software used to collect signatures due to "different requirements and forms" in different member states and the "lack of proper response" by the European commission.
The commission came under fire from MEPs in late June following the EU executive's failure to address citizens' concerns raised in an ECI calling for access to water and sanitation to be recognised as a human right.
Right2Water, the first successfully delivered ECI, exceeded the EU's requirements, garnering 1.68 million signatures in 13 member states.
However, the commission's response was branded as lacking ambition for failing to include plans to introduce any new legislation to tackle the issues raised in the ECI.
“Almost two million citizens signed this ECI and the commission's response was simply not good enough," said parliament's rapporteur on the initiative Lynn Boylan after MEPs passed a resolution in late June.
The findings of the new report appear to directly reflect the concerns of MEPs, warning that "so far, 40 per cent of the proposed ECIs have been declared 'legally inadmissible' by the commission and refused registration".
The study adds, "If the ECI system includes too many requirements and the outcome of a successful initiative is uncertain, the EU's objectives to bring citizens closer to the EU and the citizens' willingness to participate in the EU decision making process would be negatively affected."
The authors in their executive summary warn that, "This impact is evidenced by the low rate of successful initiatives and the steady decline in the use of ECIs."
The report puts forward a number of solutions including recommendations to revise the original regulation.