Implementing citizens' initiatives in regulatory matters (ESPV0006)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Action plan – Basque Country, Spain, 2025 – 2028
Inception Report: Not available
Commitment Start: Sep 2025
Commitment End: Dec 2028
Institutions involved:
- Basque Government – Directorate of Open Government and Good Government
- Basque Parliament
- Alava Provincial Council
- Gupuzcoa Provincial Council
- Bilbao Town Hall
- EUDEL
- Basque Institute of Public Administration (IVAP)
- Universities
- Osoigo
Primary Policy Area:
Primary Sector:
OGP Value:
- Civic Participation
- Technology and Innovation for Transparency and Accountability
Description
Commitment ID
ESPV0006
Commitment Title
Implementing citizens' initiatives in regulatory matters
Problem
In the Basque Country, the legislative popular initiative (the so-called ILP) is a mechanism of direct democracy that allows citizens to propose laws in the Basque Parliament and the General Assemblies of the Historic Territories. There is also one option for presenting popular regulatory initiatives in the Town Halls.
Law 10/2016, dated June 30th, regulates the Popular Legislative initiative foreseen in Article 27.4 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country. In this case, the popular legislative initiative is performed by the presentation of draft laws, subscribed by the signatures of at least 10.000 citizens in front of the Table of the Basque Parliament. There are also similar norms at the foral or municipal level and references to this matter in Law 2/2016, of 7 April, on Local Institutions of the Basque Country (Article 78).
Albeit there exists this governing regulation, its practical application demands, to guarantee the effective exercise of this citizen right, the development of practical elements to solve the different issues that can arise along the project, such as:
- Comprehensive definition of the procedures.
- Establishment of common criteria to be applied in the different areas of the procedure
It is also considered to be necessary to start using instruments to inform the citizens and social entities in a sufficient way about this.
Status quo
There is a general agreement on the issues to be solved, which are common to the institutions promoting this commitment.
Action
The implementation of the commitment will enable making the citizen initiative regarding regulations more feasible.
It is expected to obtain the following final products (outputs):
- Elaboration of a common strategic framework for the management of citizen initiatives regarding regulations.
- Elaboration of standard methodologies for the development of the strategic framework:
- Guide to inform the city and social stakeholders.
- Guide for the Internal Management of Citizen Initiatives.
- Dissemination of standard methodologies developed among the Basque Public Administrations and the social entities.
- Training about those methodologies for the technical and political staff of the Basque Public Administrations for their usage and adaptation to each local reality.
- Entities to boost this kind of initiative.
All this work will include the participation of social entities and the validation of the legal services of the institutions, to guarantee, on the one hand, that the procedures really mean a genuine facilitation of the development of the citizen initiative and, on the other hand, the fact that the processes are being developed according to the compliance with all the legal requisites that are involved in this topic.
How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?
- Development of the final products (or outputs) indicated in the previous point.
- To make them available for its application and customisation
- Training for the people in charge of managing these initiatives and the stakeholders who can boost them.
What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?
- The citizen initiative with regard to the regulations as EFFECTIVE RIGHT.
- The citizen initiative regarding regulations as MANAGEMENT AREA fully integrated in the organisational culture and in the management of the organisations, developing this management in an efficient and effective way.
Primary Policy Area
Regulatory Governance
Primary Sector
Cross-sectoral, Public Services (general)
What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?
| Civic Participation | While the legal framework already guarantees the right of citizens to propose legislation, practical barriers—such as unclear procedures and inconsistent criteria—limit its effective use. This commitment addresses those barriers by developing a common strategic framework, standardized methodologies, and practical guides for both citizens and public officials, combined with training and dissemination across Basque public administrations. By clarifying procedures, informing social stakeholders, and ensuring legal validation, the initiative reduces administrative uncertainty and lowers entry barriers for citizens wishing to exercise this right. |
| Technology and Innovation for Transparency and Accountability | The commitment introduces a common strategic framework, standardized methodologies, and practical guides that do not currently exist in a structured or harmonized form across institutions. By systematizing procedures, clarifying criteria, and creating reusable tools for both citizens and public officials, the initiative modernizes how Popular Legislative Initiatives are managed. This represents institutional innovation: it reduces fragmentation, increases procedural consistency, and makes the exercise of this democratic right more predictable and accessible. The innovative element lies in redesigning and standardizing the governance process itself to improve transparency, legal certainty, and effective citizen use of the mechanism. |