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European Citizens’ Initiative - Minority SafePack

TA-9-2020-0370 · P9_TA(2020)0370 · PE661.533

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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 in the nine areas it covers. It asks the Commission to draw up EU minimum standards for the protection of persons belonging to minorities, and member states to uphold those rights and exchange best practices. It calls for action on language learning, minority-language media, funding for multilingualism and cultural diversity, and cooperation with the Council of Europe. It expresses concern about hate crime and hate speech against national and linguistic minorities and about regional or minority languages at risk of extinction.

Key points

  1. Parliament reiterates support for the European Citizens' Initiative instrument and says the Commission should give due consideration to the requests of over 1.1 million citizens behind the Minority SafePack initiative.
  2. It recalls that protection of persons belonging to minorities is a founding value of the EU under Article 2 TEU and that Article 3(3) TEU requires respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.
  3. 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.
  4. It calls on member states to take all necessary measures to uphold minority rights, and says linguistic rights must be respected where there is more than one official language.
  5. It says the EU should raise awareness of multilingualism through EU programmes and promote its advantages.
  6. It notes there is no common EU definition of a national or linguistic minority, and says all minorities must be protected regardless of definition, applied flexibly and respecting subsidiarity, proportionality and non-discrimination.
  7. It calls for cooperation between the EU and the Council of Europe on minority rights, and encourages member states to implement and ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
  8. It says minority protection is primarily a member state responsibility but the EU has a role to play, and calls for exchanges of best practices, with cultural and linguistic identity measures aiming at positive action in education, culture and public services.
  9. It expresses concern at the increase in hate crime and hate speech against national and linguistic minorities and calls on the Commission and member states to launch anti-hate speech campaigns and combat racism and xenophobia.
  10. 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.
  11. It calls on the EU and member states to consider minority needs in funding programmes, including the European Structural and Investment Funds, Cohesion Funds and Horizon Europe, and to support minority-language media services.
  12. It expresses support for the Minority SafePack ECI and calls on the Commission to propose legal acts based on the Treaties and the ECI Regulation, in line with subsidiarity and proportionality, covering nine areas each assessed on its own merit.

Who is affected

  • The Commission, which is asked to propose legal acts and draw up EU minimum standards for minority protection.
  • Member states, which are asked to uphold minority rights, exchange best practices and ratify Council of Europe conventions.
  • 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, whom member states are asked to help with funding and administrative resources.
  • Stateless people in the EU who belong to national and linguistic minorities, for whom positive measures are considered possible.

Figures and deadlines

  • Approximately 8 % of EU citizens belong to a national minority.
  • Approximately 10 % of EU citizens 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 in nine of the 11 areas initially requested through Decision (EU) 2017/652.
  • The new ECI Regulation came into force on 1 January 2020.

Legal basis: Articles 2, 3(3) and 11(4) TEU, 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) TFEU.