The signatures of support collected for the European Citizens' Initiative titled “Minority SafePack Initiative (MSPI)” of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), of which the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) is a member, were registered to the European Commission’s online system on 10 January 2020. The signature campaign coordinated by FUEN for the initiative began in April 2017 and the national threshold stipulated by the EU Commission has been reached in eleven countries and the validity of the 1,288,385 signatures collected over a one-year period has been approved by the authorities of the 28 EU Member States.
The initiative, which calls on the EU Commission to take a series of legislative measures to improve the protection of people from national and linguistic minorities living in Europe and to strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity within the EU, aims to create protection and support tools and mechanisms for minorities at the EU level.
In the following period, a special meeting will be held within one month of the submission of the signatures online, where EU Commissioners and Director Generals and representatives of the initiative's Citizens' Committee and FUEN will meet. The EU Commission must then decide on the legislative process for the recommendations set out in the initiative within six months. During this time, a public debate session will be held in the European Parliament (EP), and a plenary debate on the initiative in the EP will also take place.
*Photo: www.fuen.org
