This document analyzes two recent innovations in direct democracy: the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) and the referendums established in the European Union Act. The ECI allows EU citizens to propose legislation, representing the first supranational direct democracy tool. The EUA includes the UK's first criteria to trigger an EU referendum. The analysis uses the dichotomies of supranational vs intergovernmental legitimacy and constitutional vs daily authority legitimacy to examine the impact of these tools on EU democracy. It finds that while the ECI and EUA pose democratic potential, institutional control and the EU framework likely heavily restrict their influence.

1. Direct Democracy In and Between the EU and UK: A legal Analysis of the
European Citizens' Initiative and the European Union Act 2011
James Brian Organ
Abstract
Participationisanimportanttheme in current democratic theory and there is burgeoning use of its
institutional form, direct democracy, to legitimise political bodies and their decision-making. This
thesis analyses the legislative design and implementation of two recent direct democracy
innovations: the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) and the referenda in the European Union Act
(EUA).The agendasettingECI,whichgivesEU citizensthe change topropose legal acts of the Union,
is the first supranational instrument of direct democracy, and the EUA contains the UK’s first
ongoing legislative criteria that rigger a referendum. The duality of EU democracy is an essential
aspect of its legitimisation. Two dichotomies are therefore used to frame the analysis of direct
democracy in the EU: the supranational (direct) and intergovernmental (indirect) routes of EU
legitimisation and the legitimisation of the EU’s constitutional framework and its daily authority.
These dichotomies,anddemocraticcriteriafocussedoncitizenparticipation and influence over the
political agenda,supportthe analysis of the likely combined impact of the ECI and EUA on the dual
EU democracy.
The critical assessmentof the legislative designof the ECIand of the Commission’s decision-making
in relation to the ECI shows that institutional mediation and the EU’s duality have a significant
impact on the potential for direct democracy to increase the influence of EU citizens on the EU
political agenda,andtofacilitate achallenge toestablishedpolicy preferences. Similarly the critical
analysisof the EUA referendaprovisions indicate that the apparently strong opportunity to vote on
the UK’s EU policy in a referendum is qualified in a number of respects by institutional control
reflectedinthe legislationitself,andthatthe chance of citizen-ledpolicypreferences is diminished.
The thesisconcludeswithacombinedanalysisof the ECIand EUA to assessthe jointimpact of direct
democracyon dual EU democracythroughansweringtwoquestions:‘Whatare theirimplicationsfor
the EU democraticparadigm?’,and‘Whatis theirinfluence togetheron EU democratic legitimacy?’.
The overall findings are that the impact of the ECI and EUA, despite posing some challenges and
despite theirdemocraticpotential,islikelytobe heavilyrestrictedasaresult of institutional control
and the EU’s political framework.