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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION (2020/2846(RSP))

On the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Minority SafePack – one million signatures for diversity in Europe’

B-9-2020-0403

on behalf of the PPE Group · Rapporteur: Esteban González Pons, Loránt Vincze

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Parliament's resolution supports the European Citizens' Initiative 'Minority SafePack – one million signatures for diversity in Europe' and calls on the Commission to propose legal acts based on the Treaties and the ECI Regulation. It asks the Commission to draw up a common framework of EU minimum standards for the protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, in line with subsidiarity. It calls on member states to uphold minority rights, exchange best practices, and take account of minorities in funding programmes and cultural measures. It expresses concern about hate crime and hate speech against minorities and about regional or minority languages at risk of extinction, and calls for action on language learning and media services.

Key points

  1. Parliament reiterates strong support for the European Citizens' Initiative instrument and calls for its full potential to be exploited.
  2. It highlights that the Commission should give due consideration to the requests of over 1.1 million EU citizens expressed through the Minority SafePack ECI.
  3. It recalls that protection of persons belonging to minorities is a founding value of the EU under Article 2 of the TEU and that Article 3(3) requires respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.
  4. It calls on the Commission to draw up a common framework of EU minimum standards for the protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, in line with subsidiarity.
  5. It calls on member states to take all necessary measures to uphold and fully respect the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
  6. It believes linguistic rights must be respected where there is more than one official language, and that the EU should raise awareness of multilingualism through EU programmes.
  7. It notes there is no common EU definition of a national or linguistic minority, and stresses that all minorities must be protected and any definition applied flexibly.
  8. It calls for mutually reinforcing cooperation between the EU and the Council of Europe on protecting the rights of national and linguistic minorities.
  9. It acknowledges that protecting minorities is primarily a member state responsibility but says the EU has a role in supporting member states and facilitating exchanges of best practices.
  10. It calls for positive action in education, culture and public services, and expresses concern about hate crime and hate speech against minorities, calling for anti-hate speech campaigns.
  11. It calls on the Commission and member states to promote language learning, including minority languages, and notes the ECI's call for a European language diversity centre.
  12. It calls on the EU and member states to consider minorities in funding programmes, including the European Structural and Investment Funds, Cohesion Funds and Horizon Europe, and to support minority-language media services.

Who is affected

  • The Commission, which is asked to propose legal acts and draw up EU minimum standards for minority rights.
  • Member states, which are called on to uphold minority rights, exchange best practices and consider minorities in funding and culture.
  • Persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities in the EU, whose rights and languages the resolution seeks to protect.
  • Cultural operators working in regional or minority languages, who face challenges in reaching audiences and accessing resources.
  • Stateless people in the EU who belong to national and linguistic minorities, while citizenship remains a national competence.

Figures and deadlines

  • Approximately 8 % of EU citizens belong to a national minority.
  • Approximately 10 % speak a regional or minority language.
  • The UNESCO Atlas lists 186 languages from EU member states as vulnerable or in danger and three as extinct.
  • 1 123 422 certified signatures were collected between 3 April 2017 and 3 April 2018, with the minimum national threshold reached in 11 member states.
  • The Minority SafePack ECI was submitted to the Commission on 15 July 2013, calling for EU action in 11 areas.
  • The Commission registered the initiative on 29 March 2017 in nine of the 11 areas initially requested.
  • The new ECI Regulation came into force on 1 January 2020.

Legal basis: Articles 2, 3(3) and 11(4) of the Treaty on European Union, and Articles 19, 24, 53(1), 63, 79(2), 107(3)(e), 108(4), 109, 118, 165(4), 167(5), 173(3), 177, 178 and 182(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.