Hungarian political and social organizations in Transylvania express their solidarity with the Szekler National Council in a joint statement in the trial phase of case No. 529/13 Izsák and Dabis vs European Commission held on 15 December in Luxembourg in connection with the Commision’s rejection of the European Civil Initiative “Cohesion policy for the equality of the regions and the preservation of regional cultures”.

We draw the attention to the decision of the European Commission on 30 November 2015 in which the body registered the Wake up Europe! European Civil Initiative of the European Humanist Federation referring to Article 2,6 and 7 dealing with the basic values enshrined in the Treaty on the European Union. The Commission alluded to the fact in their justification resisiting the European Civil Initiative, called Minority Safe Pack which was submitted by the SZNT, FUEN and RMDSZ together that the submitted European civil initiatives fall beyond the Commission’s scope, because it doesn’t dispose cognizance in the named head for the submission of union legal act which is necessary for the execution of the founding treaties of the European Union. According to the statement of the Commission, the founding treaties of the European Union do not provide a legal basis for EU legislation on national minorities.

If the Commission wants to apply this restrictive legal practice consistently then how could it have registered the initiative against Hungary on observing European values and why it refused the initiation of FUEN-RMDSZ and SZNT. The Council has already expressed its opinion on the concrete prohibition of the discrimination of national minorities in the staff regulation of the EU institutions which should be enforced in other fields of EU policies and regulations as well. We reject the double standard applied by the European Commission in this regard.

Trusting in the European Commission’s consequent, authentic and suitable interpretation of the purpose and spirit of the European Civil Initiative as a democratic legal institution,

Kolozsvár, 14 December 2015