The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) provides for one million citizens from seven of the EU’s member states to invite the European Commission to prepare a legislative proposal on a matter deemed necessary for the implementation of the treaties. Enshrined in the Treaty of Lisbon (as well as the ill-fated constitutional treaty) it came into force in April 2012 and is scheduled for a policy review in 2015. The ECI has become a nexus of societal engagement with the formal institutional structures of the European Union. There are sociological questions concerning the way in which interests have organised in response to the measures, whether these be traditional forms of organised interests or new social movements. There are legal questions regarding the binding nature of the Commission’s and Court’s actions and proper roles. There are governance questions relating to the operational procedures and the inter-institutional process of agreement over the rules. There are normative questions regarding the rightfulness of the measure as it exists and its contribution to legitimate and democratic European governance. With only three years of operation within the formal legislative structure of the EU there is much yet we do not know about the potential or fatal flaws of the measure. However already at this stage it is possible to identify its different forms of reach. This panel addresses these concerns over four papers.