Popular Sovereignty v Rule of Law: Defining the Limits of Direct Democracy (by Stephania Elis Karasamani)

This research concerns the first transnational agenda initiative (an agenda initiative is defined as the process whereby a number of citizens place an issue on the agenda of parliament), the European Citizens’ Initiative. In the context of the EU, 1 million citizens may place an issue on the agenda of the European Parliament subject to the fulfilment of the admissibility requirements. My research seeks to make sense of the admissibility requirements of Regulation 2019/788 on the European Citizens’ Initiative, and it explores the following questions: Should the right of EU citizens to propose an issue on the agenda of the EU Parliament be limited? To what extent is the right of EU citizens to propose an issue on the agenda limited by Human Rights? What is the appropriate mechanism to address a potential conflict between the will of EU citizens and Human Rights? These are questions central to the thesis, with a view to contribute to a better understanding of direct democracy at the EU level and its limits.  

Researcher:

Stephania Elis Karasamani – (stephania.karasamani@rwi.uzh.ch)

University of Zurich