On Thursday, 7 March, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the European Commission erred in law by refusing to register the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) entitled ‘Cohesion policy for the equality of regions and the preservation of regional cultures’ (Case C-420/16 P).
The objective of this citizens’ initiative is for EU cohesion policy to support regions with a national minority, i.e. geographical areas whose ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics differ from those of the surrounding areas.
In July 2013, the Commission had refused to register this ECI proposal on the grounds that proposing a legal act to the EU legislator clearly did not fall within its competence. The General Court had then dismissed the appeal in 2016 on the grounds that the organisers had not demonstrated the existence of the threat and handicap from which the regions concerned would suffer (Case T-529/13).
When the organisers brought the case before the Court, it ruled in their favour this time by quashing the General Court’s judgment and the Commission’s decision.
According to the European court, the General Court erred in law with regard to the condition for registration of an ECI and the division of tasks between the organisers of an ECI and the Commission in such a process.
The General Court should not have judged that it was the ECI organisers’ responsibility to provide evidence enabling the court to assess the extent to which cohesion policy can provide a legal basis for taking the interests of regions with national minorities into account at the EU level.
Thus, when it receives an application to register an ECI proposal, the Commission does not have to verify that the evidence of all the facts cited is provided or that the motivation underlying the proposal and the proposed measures is sufficient at that stage.
However, the Court confirms the General Court’s determination that the ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics of the regions with national minorities are not likely to systematically constitute a handicap for economic development in relation to the surrounding regions. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)