An Ethereum Improvement Proposal is an official online document that proposes changes or new features for the Ethereum network. These changes could be to the core protocol, the client APIs, or the smart contract standards, like ERCs. It assists the decentralized community in planning upgrades more effectively.
Anyone can make an EIP by first reading EIP-1, which explains how to draft a proposal. After that, you can copy the official EIPs GitHub repository. They can write the proposal using the template that is already there and send it in as a Pull Request (PR) for review. The proposal needs to be clear, well-organized, and have parts like an abstract, motivation, specification, rationale, and backward compatibility.
EIPs have different categories. For example, a standard track would include a core for forks or an ECR for applications. Meta would suggest process changes, while an informational EPI would suggest a change in guidelines. All EIPs start as drafts and follow lifecycle stages.
EIP editors review the PR for formatting and merge it as a draft. It is then reviewed by peers and goes through community discussions. There is then a 14-day final call for feedback. Consensus is required for impactful changes.
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If and when approved, it moves to the final stage for implementation. So it can be considered a hard fork for the core EIP. Otherwise, the project may become stagnant, withdrawn, or require ongoing updates. It is possible to resurrect stagnant EIPs in the future.