The Information Required for Registering the Proposed Citizens' Initiative
1. The title of the proposed citizens’ initiative:
Cohesion policy for the equality of the regions and sustainability of the regional cultures.
2. The subject matter:
The cohesion policy of the EU should pay special attention to regions with national, ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics that are different from those of the surrounding regions.
3. The description of the objectives of the proposed citizens’ initiative on which the Commission is invited to act:
For these regions, including geographic areas with no administrative competencies, the prevention of economical backlog, the sustainment of development and the preservation of the conditions for economic, social and territorial cohesion should be done in a way that ensures their characteristics remain unchanged. For this, these regions must have equal opportunity to access various EU-funds and the preservation of their characteristics and their proper economical development must be guaranteed, so that the EU’s development can be sustained and its cultural diversity maintained.
4. The provisions of the Treaties considered relevant by the organisers for the proposed action:
Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty on European Union:
Articles 153, 167, 170, 174, 176, 177 and 178 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
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Detailed Information on the Subject, Objectives and Background of the Proposed Citizens’ Initiative
In the European Union there are several regions and geographic districts with no administrative competences, that are distinguishable from their neighboring areas, due to their national, linguistic and cultural characteristics. The national communities that form a local majority or are present there in substantial number, but are in minority in the member state itself, and are therefore treated by the state as a minority, are keepers of old European cultures and languages and are significant sources of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the EU and in a broader sense of Europe. From here on, we shall refer to these areas as national/ethnic minority regions, or simply national regions.
The legal definition of national/ethnic minority regions is essential, for this, I would like to reference the following, in the context of article 6 of the treaty of
1. Recommendation 1811/2007 of the Council of Europe, which in it’s
6th point, states the following: a
majority of Council of Europe member states include communities with a strong
cultural, political and historical identity, which are not mere regions but
peoples and societies with a marked collective personality (described as
regions, nations, nationalities, countries, etc.) that did not establish their
own state but retain visible differentiating features that inform a political
will for self government;
2. Several dispositions of the Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities
that speaks of areas inhabited by persons belonging to national minorities
traditionally or in substantial numbers;
3. Article 11 of Recommendation 1201/1993 of the Council of Europe, which
states: In the regions where they are in
a majority the persons belonging to a national minority shall have the right to
have at their disposal appropriate local or autonomous authorities or to have a
special status, matching the specific historical and territorial situation and
in accordance with the domestic legislation of the state;
4. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which defines the territory
in which the regional or minority language is used as the geographical area in which the said language is the mode of
expression of a number of people justifying the adoption of the various
protective and promotional measures provided for in this Charter;
5. Article 16 of Recommendation 1334/2003 of the Council of Europe,
which states that central government must
react with understanding when minority groups, particularly when they are
sizeable and have lived in an area for a long period of time, demand greater
freedom to manage their own affairs independently;
6. The common constitutional traditions of the EU member states, in
accordance with article 6 of the treaty of Lisbon
7. Articles 3 of the Treaty on European Union, which sais, that the EU shall respect its rich
cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe’s cultural
heritage is safeguarded and enhanced diversity, and article 167 of the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union, which sais, that the Union shall
contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting
their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common
cultural heritage to the fore.
These current definitions,
regulations, resolutions are equally
applicable to autonomous regions having legislative
competences, and to regions that do not possess even administrative
competences, but have expressed their desire to possess autonomous status within the state.
The above stated facts
show clearly, that the concept of national/ethnic
minority regions (or national regions), is not the innovation of the organizers
of the current citizens’ initiative, all of the essential elements of the
concept to be defined in an EU legal act already exists in countless
international documents adopted by many of the member states, and they are in
perfect harmony with the core values and goals of the European Union.
The characteristic, historically rooted traditions, culture,
language and religion of the peoples inhabiting these regions are important
elements of the social and territorial cohesion that the cohesion policy of the
EU should not ignore. The cultural characteristics have a bearing on the
economy and development of the respective regions, the member states, and the
EU, and the cohesion policy of the EU could be a key factor in the
sustainability of these regions’ culture, and by extension, of Europe ’s cultural diversity, as these are the regions
where said cultural diversity is the most endangered. First of all, the regions
have much fewer resources at their disposal that can be used for the
preservation of their regional cultures than the member states, but they are
also the most threatened by the spontaneous processes - like labor migration and the resulting
assimilation processes -, that accompany economical changes. In addition, in
some member states they are exposed to open or covert forms of economical discrimination,
which aims for the emigration of the local autochthonous population, and the
eradication of that specific regional identity. Similar disadvantages include
any restrictions imposed on linguistic rights, the marginalization of the
region’s language in the economic life and generally in the public life, as
well as other legal or practical manifestations of discrimination, including
those associated with the EU policies and the financial assets required to
implement them, and used for the purpose of discrimination by the member
states.
These processes are contrary to the fundamental values defined by
article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, so they impose obligations for the
Union, as article 3 says not only that the EU “shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity”, but
also states, that “shall ensure that
Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced”. The respect
towards the EU’s cultural diversity is further enforced by the Charter of
Fundamental Rights, article 22: “The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic
diversity”. At the same time, article 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning
of the European Union states that “without
prejudice to the other provisions of the Treaties and within the limits of the
powers conferred by them upon the Union, the Council, acting unanimously in
accordance with a special legislative procedure and after obtaining the consent
of the European Parliament, may take appropriate action to combat
discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation”.
The citizens’ initiative for the equality of regions has three objectives. First of all,
the cohesion policy of the EU could play an important role in the realization
of the above stated objectives and a separate legal act could be an important
instrument in guaranteeing the equality of regions with regards to the national
regions. On the other hand, it should be a
minimal expectation that the EU’s cohesion policy should not violate the EU’s
general principles, its objectives, or Europe ’s
cultural diversity, through the inappropriate management of the national
regions. Furthermore,
through proper cohesion policy, the additional economical potential hidden in
the social and territorial cohesion of the national/ethnic minority
regions can be released, and transformed into a valuable
economical resource, for the good not only of the regions, but the member
states and the EU.
Article 174 of the Treaty on European Union states the following: “in order to promote its overall harmonious development,
the Union shall develop and pursue its actions
leading to the strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion.
In particular, the Union shall aim at reducing
disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the
backwardness of the least favored regions”.
In this context Article 174 specifies that “among the regions concerned, particular attention shall be paid to
rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition, and regions which suffer
from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps such as the
northernmost regions with very low population density and island, cross-border
and mountain regions”.
As examples, article 174 lists six categories of regions that are
granted particular attention in order to realize the EU’s cohesion policy. This
list however is not exclusive, leaving open the possibility to further expand
it through a separate legal act with new categories, such as regions with
national, linguistic and cultural characteristics, called by us national/ethnic
minority regions. The EU must grant particular attention to regions with
national, ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics, due to
being inhabited in a significant percentage (or even in majority) by an
autochthonous European community, where they have created their own
historically rooted culture.
The discrimination - including its covert forms - against such
regions must be strictly prohibited. They must be given equal opportunity to
access the EU’s structural funds, as well as all other EU funds, resources and
programs. The cohesion policy should in no way be directed towards the
elimination or even weakening of their national, linguistic and cultural
characteristics. In no way should the EU’s economic assets be used as direct or
indirect instruments of anti-minority policies. As such, EU funds and policies
may not be used to alter the national composition, regional identity or
cultural image of a national region, or to support of employment policies that would
promote the settling of labor force with a different culture and language. Such
practices are also contrary to the member states’ international commitments,
and their common constitutional heritage.
Accordingly, when forming the NUTS regions, linguistic, ethnic and
cultural boundaries must
be taken into account, along with the will of autochthonous communities that
form the majority of the region’s population, which may be expressed through
referendum prior to the delimitation of the NUTS regions.
Even Regulation
1059/2003/EC on the establishment of a common classification of territorial
units for statistics (NUTS) states, that when creating the NUTS regions, socio-economic, historical and cultural circumstances must also be
considered. We find necessary that this provision should be clearly and
explicitly formulated in the legal act for the protection of the national
regions, in accordance with the commitments of the member states, the
fundamental values of the EU and the EU’s cohesion policy.
There are many national regions in the EU with a broad range of
legislative competences. Through their autonomy, they are capable of turning
their specificities into economic resources. Neither the cohesion policy of the
EU, nor the economic policies of the member states can work on the “grass
cutter” principle. If a national region is capable of creating higher standards
of living through their capability of self-organizing, through the working
morale rooted in their culture, and through the regional traditions, these must
be treated as part of the regional culture, neither restrictive measures, nor
additional taxes may be imposed upon them. This would undermine the EU’s additional
potential for growth, the sources of which are these regions themselves. It
should be noted that the economical results of many such regions with
wide-ranging self-management rights within an EU member state shows, that
autonomy within the state not only helped the development of the ethnic group
in question, but provided an economical and cultural surplus to the member
state, and the EU as a whole. The general EU definition, and the legal and
institutional framework of the national/ethnic regions would provide advantages
for the whole of the EU that otherwise could not be guaranteed.
The majority communities of the national regions are peoples.
Consequently, the national regions are peoples’ homelands, just like the
countries of Europe , and should be treated as
such. In no way should they be treated as colonies; all, including disguised
forms of their exploitation, are contrary to the fundamental values of the UN,
as well as the values and objectives of the EU.
We would also like to recall that the peoples of the United Nations,
express their belief in the equality of great and small nations in the UN
Charter, while the International Covenant of Civil and Political rights
establishes that “all peoples may, for
their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without
prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic
co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international
law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence”. As a direct
consequence of the universality of human rights, this right also applies to
minorities, regardless of whether the communities they belong to are defined as
regions, nationalities or countries.
There are many national
regions whose language is not among the official languages of the EU. These languages (such as the Catalan, Basque, Corsican, Breton, Welsh, Scottish, Frisian etc.), are bearers of old European
cultures, and should not be treated as second class languages. They are a part
of Europe ’s cultural diversity, their
discrimination should not be allowed. In this spirit, some languages can become
official languages of the treaty, based on article 55 of the Treaty on European
Union: This Treaty may also be translated
into any other languages as determined by Member States among those which, in
accordance with their constitutional order, enjoy official status in all or
part of their territory. In Europe ’s
economic life, in the EU institutions, they are entitled to have the same
status as the official languages of the member states.
The resolution of the
European Parliament on The Protection of Minorities and
Anti-Discrimination Policies in an Enlarged Europe, in it’s 44th article, states that the European
Parliament “considers that particular attention
should be devoted to groups of people belonging to linguistic minorities, and
calls on the Commission and the Member States to treat them in accordance with
the principles laid down in the European Charter on Regional or Minority
Languages, the FCNM and the abovementioned Hague and Lund recommendations”.
In its 45th article, the same resolution states that “effective participation in decision-making
based on the principles of subsidiarity and self-governance is one of the most
effective ways of handling the problems of traditional minority communities,
following the best practices existing within the Union ”.
While article 46 underlines that “traditional
national minority communities have specific needs different from other minority
groups, that public policies should be more focused and that the Union itself must address these needs in a more
appropriate way”.
We, the organizers and supporters of the Citizens’ Initiative for
the equality of regions, fully agree with this resolution of the European
Parliament, and join the request to the Commission and the member states,
requiring that the legislation that would be elaborated by the commission
should comply with the needs formulated in the resolution. We welcome all
modest steps made in this direction, including the one titled “Migrants,
Minorities and Education” published by the FRA, which dedicates a separate
chapter to „The Educational Situation of National Autochthonous and Indigenous
Minorities”.
We believe that in order to ensure the equality between regions and
the sustainability of the regional cultures, the economic backlog of Europe ’s national regions must be prevented, the terms of
their economic, social and territorial cohesion should be maintained in a way,
that doesn’t alter their characteristics. To this end, they must be granted
equal opportunity to access structural and other EU funds, resources and
programs, the sustainability of their characteristics and the appropriate
economical development must be guaranteed, so that the EU’s overall harmonious
development can be sustained and its cultural diversity maintained.
These guarantees, in accordance with the above referenced resolution
and the will of the communities in question, could become the institutions of
regional self government, that need to be endowed with sufficient competences
to help sustain the region’s national, linguistic and cultural characteristics,
and regional identity.
The legislation should also pronounce that the Member States must,
without delay, fulfill their international commitments regarding the national minorities.
Violation or non-compliance with commitments would be a violation of the values
listed in article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, and imply the procedure
described in article 7.
Beyond defining the concept of national regions, the legal act
elaborated by the Commission must also identify (list) them in an appendix,
taking into account the criteria in the listed international documents, and the
will of the affected communities.
In its content, the legal act to be elaborated by the Commission
should be based on the values specified in
recommendations 1201/1993, 1334/2003, 1811/2007 of the Council of Europe, the
European Charter of Local Self-Government, European Charter on Regional
Self-Government, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities,
the European Parliament’s decision on EU citizenship adopted on the 21st of
November 1991 and Resolution 2005/2008(INI) of the European Parliament on The Protection of Minorities
and Anti-Discrimination Policies in an
Enlarged Europe, and must follow their objectives. At
the same time it must consider as international standards the recognition of
all individual and collective rights generally adopted by all EU member states,
i.e. the common constitutional heritage, in the way the ECJ determined it in
its sentence in the Hauer case.
Izsák Balázs
(Adopted
by the standing commitee of the Szekler National Council on the 4th of August
2012, in Ghindar – Makfalva)
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