The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) was introduced as a way to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the EU by involving ordinary citizens in the political process. The aim of this study has been to examine whether this plan has been successful, and it has done so by looking at the responsiveness of the Commission and at how equal the participation is. The ECI can be launched by at least seven EU citizens wishing to propose new EU laws. The seven citizens will form a Citizens’ Committee. The study has been conducted by asking these Committees about their experiences using a survey.  The results show that the participation is generally equal with some exceptions, notably in the inclusion of non-active citizens when gathering signatures. However, the Committees show a lot of dissatisfaction with the ECI’s potential to invite to equal participation and with the responsivity of the Commission. The conclusion is therefore that the ECI has helped move the democratic legitimacy of the EU in the right direction, but that a lot of work still must be done both within the area of equal participation and responsivity in order for it to properly help the democracy of the EU.

Discussions about the democratic deficit of the European Union have gotten more intense and the criticism usually points towards a great gap between the citizens and the EU politics. In this study the political communication policy is being put under the scope to investigate to what extent the policy is designed to counter the democratic deficit, supported by the theory of deliberative democracy. The analysis examines three aspects of the deficit – decentralization, participation and the distribution of information – and makes research into the communicative measures that have been implemented. The importance for EU to make deliberation possible is stressed throughout the essay and in the conclusion I argue that improvements still need to be made.