site.btaECAS Executive Director Kavrakova on How European Civil Action Service Turns Ideas into Legislative Proposals

The European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) is a unique tool for democratic participation that empowers citizens to play an active role in shaping European Union policies. It provides visibility for a particular cause and the opportunity to consolidate transnational support and debate, attract institutional attention and lobby for the cause at European and national level. 

In an interview for BTA's Elena Nikolova, ECAS Executive Director Assya Kavrakova said that the ECAS serves as a bridge between citizens and the EU institutions. "It is like a thermometer that takes the temperature of European citizens: how they see the future, what they care about and what they think is not working or could be improved in terms of human and animal rights, the environment, the accessibility of infrastructure and many other topics," she added.  

Kavrakova is a member of the European Parliament's annual European Citizen's Prize Committee for the 2020-2024 period and a member of the stakeholder engagement working group of the European Commission's Just Transition Platform (JTP). She is also a member of the Board of the independent online newspaper EUobserver. With 25 years of experience in senior management positions, leading national and international teams of experts and NGOs, Kavrakova has in-depth knowledge of European citizenship and rights, EU structural and cohesion policy, the Schengen regulatory framework, EU foreign and enlargement policy decision-making, and formal and informal mechanisms for citizen participation in EU decision-making. 

Following is the full text of the interview.

What is the ECAS and how does it give citizens the opportunity to participate in the formation of EU policies?

We like to call the ECAS a unique tool for citizen participation at European level for several reasons.

Firstly, it has no analogue in the world as it allows for transnational input of European citizens to the legislative process. This is the reason why one million citizens from at least seven Member States are needed to support the initiative, and there are specific requirements for a minimum number of citizens from each of the seven selected countries to declare their support through their signatures. This ensures that the legislative decision requested by the European Commission on the subject of the initiative is of pan-European interest, and not just in the interest of the citizens of one country, for example. As we know, there are large countries in Europe with a well-established tradition of citizen participation - Germany, for example - and it would not be difficult for them to collect one million signatures in support of a particular cause. However, the ECAS seeks the European interest of citizens, not a narrowly national one.

Secondly, the ECAS gives European citizens, for the first time in the history of the European Union, a right similar to that of the European Parliament and the Council, namely to invite the European Commission, which is the only body with the right of legislative initiative at European level, to legislate on the subject of the citizens' initiative if it is supported by one million citizens. It is up to the European Commission to decide whether to initiate new legislation, amend existing legislation or do neither, but whatever it decides, it must announce and explain its decision in writing to the initiators of the citizens' initiative. This is a kind of accountability and transparency that is very important, because collecting one million signatures from at least seven countries in one year is no easy task, and the effort deserves respect and recognition from the Union's institutions.

What steps can EU citizens take to get involved in EU legislative initiatives?

There are various mechanisms for citizen participation in decision-making at European level and the ECAS is just one of them. While it allows European citizens to propose changes to existing legislation or new legislation, as long as it is within the remit of the European Commission and not nation states, consultative processes provide citizens with the opportunity to give their views on legislative proposals before they enter the decision-making process. The European Commission is obliged to make every piece of legislation available for comment; this is done online, and anyone who is interested can give their opinion on the legislative proposal within 12 weeks. In addition, following the Conference on the Future of Europe, the Commission has adopted the practice of organising citizens' panels on certain topics - these involve a representative sample of European citizens on various grounds: nationality, gender, age, education, etc., and discuss, according to a certain methodology, issues that are subject to legislative decision. The idea of this method is to take into account proposals from citizens of different demographic and socio-economic groups to ensure a balanced approach in the adoption of future pan-European decisions.

How does the ECAS contribute to a more inclusive and stronger European Union and how does it help to increase transparency in decision-making?

The ECAS contributes to the creation of a common European space to discuss our common interests as European citizens. In many cases, the ECAS's initiators know that they will not be able to collect one million signatures within 12 months, but they register their initiatives and launch pan-European campaigns anyway. This is because, in addition to being able to ask the Commission to legislate on your topic if you manage to gather the necessary support, the ECAS is a great tool to give visibility to a cause, consolidate transnational support and debate, attract the attention of the institutions and lobby for the cause at European and national level. The European Parliament, for example, necessarily organises a hearing for the organisers of successful initiatives, but they often participate in various formats in Parliament, in the European Economic and Social Committee and in conferences organised by NGOs, even before it is clear whether or not they will be able to collect a million signatures. All this also contributes to greater transparency in the decision-making process, as it is clear what citizens want to achieve or change through the respective initiative and what the institutions think about these issues: is there already existing legislation on the matter, is it subject to change, if yes - how and when, and if not - why.

What is the importance of the ECAS in strengthening the relationship between citizens and the EU institutions?

In any case, the ECAS is an important and positive step in the direction of empowering European citizens, although there is still much to be desired in terms of concrete direct results in terms of legislative changes from specific successful initiatives. In many ways, the ECAS is like a thermometer that takes the temperature of European citizens: how they see the future, what they are concerned about and what they think is not working or could be improved in terms of human and animal rights, the environment, accessibility of infrastructure and many other topics. Statistics show that the majority of the ECAS' initiators are young people, and it is therefore particularly important for the institutions, not only the EU ones but also the national ones, to pay more attention to all European citizens' initiatives, not only those that manage to collect one million signatures, because these initiatives take the pulse of the young generation and show what is important to young European citizens. If we are more attentive and caring to the needs of these citizens, perhaps we will not be surprised every time by the election results or surprised by the low turnout.

What strategies do you use to motivate citizens to be active in EU democratic processes?

Strategies vary depending on the specific processes: whether we want to motivate citizens to get out and vote, or to support a civil initiative, or to engage in a public debate on a bill. Whatever the strategy, however, there are a few principles that must be respected. 

It must be clear what specific participation brings to citizens: whether it will improve their living conditions where they are, whether it will give them additional rights and opportunities, how the outcome of their participation will be understood.

There must be practical ways of enabling participation where citizens are: if they are in the digital space, as many young people are, for example, the tools must be digital - the ECAS provides the opportunity for support both online and on paper. However, if they live in isolated locations or have any other constraints - personal or environmental - the tools should be tailored to this. We often find ourselves visiting communities on site that we cannot reach online for a variety of reasons. Equal access to opportunities to participate is key to a sense of whether or not democracy is working for the individual.

Motivation through personal examples and real human stories is very successful as it allows people to identify with other citizens in their situation. This is the reason why the ECAS Forum - a multilingual online platform to help civil initiative organisers - shares the experiences of organisers through personal stories and advice given by the organisers themselves.

Can you share an example of a successful initiative that has led to concrete legislative changes in the EU? Are there any such initiatives from Bulgaria?

As I mentioned, there is much to be desired in terms of concrete legislative changes as a result of successful initiatives. 

One of the first successful European citizens' initiatives which had among its organizers a Bulgarian, was the "Right2Water". It is interesting from the point of view of the effect it achieved both at European level and in some Member States. At European level, the revised Drinking Water Directive is the Commission's response to this initiative. The Commission has evaluated the Drinking Water Directive by carrying out an EU-wide public consultation on drinking water quality to assess the need for improvements and how they can be achieved. At national level, the initiative was successful in Germany, in Greece, where activists organised a referendum against the privatisation of the water and sewerage operator in Thessaloniki, and in Slovenia.

Several of the successful initiatives managed to gather the minimum necessary support from Bulgaria. 

For example, the Minority SafePack initiative - one million signatures for diversity in Europe. In Bulgaria, as in other Member States, the impact of this initiative was rather symbolic: there were discussions about minority rights within the EU but no concrete new legislative solutions. Minority rights in Bulgaria continue to be governed primarily by national legislation and policies.

Another successful initiative involving Bulgaria is the End the Cage Age, which resulted in a commitment by the European Commission to phase out the use of cages for various farm animals by 2027. This commitment also includes new legislation as part of the wider review of EU animal welfare legislation. However, in 2023 the European Commission missed the deadline for publishing the legislative proposal and the initiative's organisers took the Commission to the EU Court of Justice for failing to honour its commitments. We are following with interest developments related to this initiative. 

Another ECAS campaign, Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics - Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing, has engaged actors Sylvia Petkova, Orlin Pavlov and singer Bilyana Lazarova in Bulgaria. In response to this initiative, in May 2023 the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for a roadmap to phase out animal testing for all purposes, not just for cosmetics. However, legislative changes are still at the discussion stage.