As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Lisbon Treaty, we debate the question: Has the ECI been an instrument of democracy? With us Pablo Sanchez, one of the champions of the first successful ECI Right2Water; EESC member Antonio Longo, who explains what the EESC has done over the years to help make the ECI simpler and more transparent, and prof. Alberto Alemanno, outlining the ECI's sticking points and proposing a radical overhaul of citizen participation in the EU.