The Issue of National Regions Once Again Before the Court of Justice of the European Union

Balázs Izsák has turned to the General Court of the European Union after the Commission made it clear that, despite the successful signature collection, it does not intend to take any substantive action regarding the issue of national regions. The president of the Szekler National Council – who also represents the citizens’ committee of the national regions initiative – seeks to have the General Court annul the European Commission’s decision. The action was registered with the General Court of the European Union on 13 November 2025.

The aim of the citizens’ initiative concerning national regions – officially titled “Cohesion policy for the equality of the regions and sustainability of the regional cultures” – is to ensure that the European Union’s development policy no longer ignores national regions such as Szeklerland. The initiative thus seeks to improve the situation of those European regions whose national, cultural, linguistic, or religious characteristics distinguish them from the surrounding regions.

According to the initiators, the Commission’s decision rejecting legislative action is contrary to the European Union’s commitments, especially its promises regarding the development of territories suffering from long-term economic and demographic disadvantages, and the preservation of national characteristics and cultural diversity. The initiators object that the Commission’s decision is insufficiently reasoned, and that many of its statements are erroneous, untrue, or contrary to the provisions of EU law. The action also challenges the Commission’s multiple omissions, the victims of which are Europe’s “national minority regions,” or, more simply, national regions. In the reasoning attached to its rejection, the Commission made clear that the preservation of local specificities and of regions inhabited by national minorities is incompatible with its sole objective: the creation of a global European superstate.

For this reason, the citizens’ committee is turning to the Court of Justice of the European Union to give effect to the democratic will of more than 1.2 million EU citizens who supported the initiative with their signatures.

One statement in the rejection must nevertheless be regarded as a success: the Commission acknowledges that the initiators – the Szekler National Council – are right that Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which lists Europe’s disadvantaged regions, can indeed be supplemented with other regions, such as national regions. The action must therefore compel the Commission to move out of passivity and to adopt legislation in the spirit of the very principles it has itself acknowledged.

Filing the action also protects the institution of democratic participation and the European Citizens’ Initiative: if the Commission may simply ignore such initiatives, it undermines EU citizens’ trust in the European institutions.

The citizens’ committee trusts that the Court of Justice of the European Union will restore the rule of law and respect for the democratic rights of EU citizens, and that it will open the way toward renewing cohesion policy so that it ensures equal opportunities for development and cultural survival for all regions and national communities.

Press Office of the Szekler National Council
Sfântu Gheorghe
14 November 2025