The Impact of the european citizen's initiative on the democratisation process of the European Union

Within a Union in crisis, answers to the so called democratic deficit of the European Union have to be found in order to bridge the gap between EU citizens and their institutions. Thus, in order to strengthen the EU’s legitimacy, the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) has been included in the Lisbon Treaty. This dissertation focuses on the main actors of the initiatives i.e. the citizen's committees. By making a comprehensive analysis of the citizen's committees and their networks, this research evaluates the opportunity of access to this tool, and tries to analyse some of the social configurations which facilitate the uses of this tool. By analysing the different actors, the inquiry elucidates the implications of the tool itself as well as its legitimacy.