Incapable of totally transforming itself into a representative democracy, the European Union is inciting the development of palliative forms of civic participation. Among the many instruments which belong in the European citizen?s ?repertoire of action?, the right of petition enjoys particular prestige. Based upon a very old tradition and profoundly associated with parliamentary powers, it is often presented as the principal form of direct participation by citizens in community decision-making. The examination of its practice nevertheless reveals that the institution remains ambivalent. Oscillating between individual complaints and collective initiatives and remaining highly elitist, it offers only a narrow and fragmented path for European citizenship. generated, the former being closer to the neo-corporatist paradigm of mediation of social interests and the latter more in accordance with the pluralist paradigm.