Resumen de Between discretion and control: reflections on theinstitutional position of the Commission within theEuropean citizens'initiative process

Nikos Vogiatzis

• This article considers the institutional position of the Commission within the European citizens' initiative (ECI)process, with particular emphasis on its decision regarding the admissibility/registration of a proposed ECI, andits final decision on the outcome of an ECI which has met the necessary levels of support. The purpose of thiscontribution is to juxtapose the case‐law of the Court on the Commission's discretion and the relevant provisionsof the Treaties with the evolution of European integration and, more specifically, the evolution of theCommission's role therein. Viewed under this prism, the Commission's powers at the registration stage (whichin any event clearly fall under the scope of judicial review) are compatible with the constitutionalisation of theUnion, whereas the Commission's width of discretion at the follow‐up stage, while compatible with theCommission's prerogatives, cannot easily be reconciled, nonetheless, with the Commission's limited legitimacywhen compared to that of the co‐legislators, the fact that it may not always represent the Union interest, andthe latter's pragmatic losses within the EU institutional balance.