Citizens iniatives may be a form of petition, but the difference is they come with actual legal requirements.
This isn’t some change.org bs, a list of names totaling some arbitrary number.
This is a pre-existing system for the people of the EU to force it to tackle an issue. Most EU countries have equivalent systems locally, as well. This isn’t new or unusual for us.
Legal precedent is how the US works. Where lawsuits catalyzing the setting of new standards for what is legal, is most common way the law changes.
That can happen in the EU, too, but we have additional ways to propose law as citizens. If you can gather proof (signatures) of concern on a given issue, the government must address it.
bread@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
The fact that it isn’t just a petition, and if successful will put the issue before EU lawmakers. I’m presenting the alternative as doing nothing because you talked about voting with your wallet, and that is essentially doing nothing.
The reason I see this as having a higher chance of success than a legal case is the monetary limitation inherent to the latter. As far as I know there isn’t a big track record of successful ECI’s, so I would assume your basing your opinions on regular petitions. Correct me if I’m wrong.
TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
No, I talked about putting this energy into convincing others to vote with their wallets, not just “doing nothing”. A boycott is an active campaign. It doesnt just mean not buying a product. It means not buying any associated product. Not even tolerating them in conversation.
I’m basing my opinion on how the commission has responded to similar successfully raised initiatives: “that’s already covered by legislation and up to EU states to manage”, “no that’s something we cant support, but feel free to appeal endlessly”, and in the most effective one, “committing to making a legislative proposal by 2023 but actually if thats ok we’ll make it 2026 and I suppose then if legislation is agreed it may be in place within a decade” (end cage farming, which polls at 86% approval already in the EU).
bread@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
Yes, that’s what I was referring to; I didn’t mean you personally voting with your wallet, but in the broader sense. In my opinion there’s little chance of having success with this method in this field.
I’m not saying you’re wrong in basing your opinion on this, but I think the sample size is very small and not necessarily indicative of future results. I’m not saying the chances are sky-high either, but I think this is the best way forward, especially right now with the campaign having received a second wind.
If there are alternative roads to the same goal, I wouldn’t be against supporting those either. I believe this is the best we have right now, that’s why I’ve put it before friends, family etc. If you have a better idea, you should definitely do the same, but downplaying the potential of this campaign helps nobody but those in the games industry.