“Now more than ever”: Strong interest for the FUEN discussion meeting on the citizens’ initiative in the European parliament

27.09.2013 - circa 60 participants – among them several members of the European parliament – accepted the invitation of FUEN president Hans Heinrich Hansen and Iuliu Winkler, member of the European parliament on behalf of RMDSZ/EPP. Together they discussed in Brussels about the rejection of the citizens’ initiative “minority Safepack initiative” by the European commission.

In a “Joint Declaration” is mentioned, among other things, that the European Heads of Government, the Presidents of the Parliament, the Commission and the Council and the chairs of the political groups in the European Parliament will receive a letter, and – based on the negative decision of the European Commission – that they are requested to state their position towards European minorities and to cultural and linguistic diversity.

The chances for success with an action against the decision of the European Commission at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg are thoroughly examined at the moment by legal experts and lawyers. Based on their expert opinion we will decide about the possibility to go to court. The instrument of the European Citizens’ Initiative explicitly mentions this as a possibility. We have to seize the momentum and use the strong movement of solidarity among the minorities in Europe and among the Members of the European Parliament. We are considering engaging in a support campaign in connection with the elections of the European Parliament, in order to maintain political pressure and to increase attention for the interests of the European minorities and on linguistic and cultural diversity.

The sentiment during the discussion in the Parliament was clear: the decision of the European Commission is politically motivated and it must not be accepted as it is. The chair of the Intergroup for Traditional Minorities in the European Parliament, Csaba Tabajdi, made it clear: “the decision must not be accepted; together we must act against this scandalous rejection”.

Iuliu Winkler, Member on behalf of the Hungarians from Romania and FUEN-member RMDSZ chaired the lively debate. FUEN Vice President Vincze Loránt introduced and explained the facts and the background of our “Minority SafePack”. “We submitted a solid and tenable proposal. As FUEN Presidium we are unanimously in favour of carrying on with our project, which was based on almost two years of intensive preparation, and to move from our first disappointment to a positive result in the end. The rejection also offers us a chance”, said FUEN-Vice President Vincze Loránt.

FUEN - Director Jan Diedrichsen: “The solidarity of the Members of Parliament confirms our conviction that we are on the right track. Additional to the concrete issue of the minorities, the answer of the Commission also contains considerable political dynamite that may endanger the fundamental ideas behind the citizens’ initiative itself. With this instrument the EU wanted to create the possibility for citizens to engage with the European institutions on an equal level. The decision of the Commission can only lead to the conclusion that the European Citizens’ Initiative is just providing an alibi for alleged citizens’ participation in the EU”, said Diedrichsen.

The “Joint Declaration” – prepared by the FUEN Presidium and adopted by acclamation - emphasises dialogue as method of cooperation. The European minorities do not want to act against the European institutions or against the Member States, no; they want to work together in order to achieve improvements in minority protection and enhancement of linguistic and cultural diversity. “We continue to offer our willingness to cooperate with the European Commission”, said Iuliu Winkler, drawing a conclusion from the lively and constructive discussion.

Source: www.fuen.org