Citizens’ Initiative: Commission receives organisers of the ‘Minority SafePack – one million signatures for diversity in Europe’ Initiative

This afternoon, Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, and Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Research, Innovation, Culture, Education and Youth, will receive the organisers of the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Minority SafePack – one million signatures for diversity in Europe’, after they collected and submitted to the Commission over 1 million signatures in support of their Initiative. This is the 5th successful European Citizens’ Initiative so far. As is the case for all successful initiatives, and in line with the Citizens’ Initiative regulation, the Commission has invited the organisers to Brussels to present their ideas in more depth. The ‘Minority SafePack – one million signatures for diversity in Europe’ Initiative calls on the European Commission to “improve the protection of persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities and strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity in the Union”.A public hearing will also be organised in the European Parliament. Based on a thorough assessment, the Commission will then present a Communication that exposes the reasoning for the next steps it will take, i.e. whether to propose legislation; not act at all; or take other non-legislative actions. The European Citizens’ Initiative is a valuable tool in the hands of citizens and allows them to contribute to shaping EU law and policy. More information on other successful ECIs is available on the website. As of 1 January 2020, the ECI has become even more citizen-friendly with the new ECI rules coming into application.