EU competence in the area of ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity

Question for written answer  E-000395/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Łukasz Kohut (S&D), Hannes Heide (S&D)

In its landmark judgment of 24 September 2019 in case T-391/17, Romania v Commission[1], the General Court of the European Union clarified that the rights of persons belonging to minorities is an EU value and that respecting and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity in the EU is one of the Union’s objectives.

In its communication on the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Minority SafePack – one million signatures for diversity in Europe’, dated 14 January 2021, the Commission purports that ‘the EU has no general legislative competence specifically on the protection of national minorities’, as well as that ‘the Union has no legislative competence over questions such as the use of regional or minority languages, in public education or elsewhere’.

In the light of the above, we would like to ask:

• 1.What is the Commission’s legal interpretation of the judgment of 24 September 2019 (T-391/17, Romania v Commission) as regards the scope of the EU’s legislative competence in relation to respecting and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity in the EU?
• 2.What non-legislative tools does the Commission plan to use in order to implement policies aimed at respecting and promoting regional and minority languages in the European Union?

• [1] Court of Justice of the European Union, Judgment of 24 September 2019, Romania v Commission, T-391/17, EU:T:2019:672.