The European Court of First Instance rejected, in a judgment delivered on Wednesday 10 November, Romania’s appeal against the European Commission’s decision to register the proposed European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Cohesion Policy for Regional Equality and Maintenance of Regional Cultures’.
This is the first time that the Court of First Instance has ruled (Case T-495/19) on the question of whether a Commission decision to register such a proposal is challengeable.
On 18 June 2013, the ECI proposal in question was presented to the Commission, in order for the EU to pay special attention to regions with ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics that differ from those of the surrounding regions.
On 25 July 2013, the Commission rejected the application for registration of the contested ECI proposal. On 30 April 2019, the Commission adopted a new decision by which it registered the contested ECI proposal. Romania has lodged an appeal for annulment against this decision.
The Court of First Instance dismisses Romania’s application and for the first time explicitly addresses the question of the challengeability of a Commission decision to register a proposed ECI.
Link to the judgment: https://bit.ly/3HloP3x (Original version in French Lionel Changeur)