The Minority SafePack Initiative was presented in the Minority Intergroup

The European Citizens’ Initiative, calling upon the European Union to adopt a set of legal acts to improve the protection of persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities and strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity was presented in the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages on Thursday, 13 March 2025 in Strasbourg.

Attorney Thomas Hieber, who has been representing the Minority SafePack Initiative (MSPI) for nine years, presented the initiative coordinated by FUEN. Started in 2013 at the proposal of the RMDSZ, SVP and YEN, the MSPI is a trailblazer, one of the first European Citizens’ Initiatives and the first dealing with minority issues. It is a set of nine proposals meant to protect and promote national and linguistic minorities in the EU. In 2017-2018 it collected 1.123.422 validated signatures, passing the national threshold in 11 EU Member States. Despite strong support on regional and national level in many member states and a Resolution adopted by a large majority in the European Parliament, the European Commission decided in 2021 not to initiate legal acts based on the proposals. The MSPI Citizens‘ Committee decided to bring an action for annulment against the Commission‘s refusal to implement the MSPI, which was rejected. An appeal was brought to the Court of Justice of the European Union, a decision is expected for the summer of 2025.

FUEN President, MEP Loránt Vincze (President of the Intergroup) and attorney Thomas Hieber

Despite the Commission’s refusal and regardless of the upcoming court decision, the MSPI made history by putting minority protection on the EU agenda. It had a remarkable political impact, including:

• Political commitments of several Member States to pursue its objectives, including in the German coalition agreement of 2021.
• The Conference on the Future of Europe recommends strengthening the protection of minority and regional languages and to set up a language diversity centre.
• FUEN was invited to participate in stakeholder dialogue on access to and availability of audiovisual works across the EU
• The Proposals of the European Parliament to amend the EU Treaties also include important amendments on the protection of national minorities and minority and regional languages and to address the “Copenhagen Dilemma”.

Following Mr. Hieber’s presentation, the debate in the Intergroup, which unites 46 Members of the European Parliament, proved once again the strong commitment of the members towards the implementation of the Initiative’s proposals. More MEPs expressed their appreciation towards the work put in the Initiative and their anger towards the Commission’s lack of action. They also showed will to explore other possibilities to create a strong EU legal framework that protects and supports traditional national and linguistic minorities.