The Vulnerability of Regions and the Responsibility of Cohesion Policy

The organizers of the European Citizens' Initiative for the protection of national regions will participate in a hearing before the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) of the European Parliament in Brussels on June 25 this year. The citizens’ initiative launched by the Szekler National Council is not an abstract legal proposal, but one that can be applied to concrete events and objectives. The concept of improving cohesion policy is fully applicable to the recent events that occurred in Parajd at the end of May and in June of this year.

 At the beginning of June, Romania activated the EU’s emergency response mechanism to prevent the expansion of the disaster near the Parajd salt mine, which could have caused even more severe environmental damage.

As the organizers of the citizens’ initiative, and in connection with the events in Parajd, we would like to highlight three key aspects of the EU's cohesion policy:

1. The Vulnerability of Regions and the Responsibility of Cohesion Policy

The disaster around the Parajd salt mine is not merely a natural calamity, but a threat to the collective historical and cultural heritage of an entire region. It serves as both a symbolic and practical example of what can happen when cohesion policy fails to recognize the importance of protecting local values and heritage.

2. The Fragility of Cultural Landscapes and Regional Identity

The Salt Region (Sóvidék), of which Parajd is one of the most important parts, is a cultural landscape where the salt-related way of life — mining, trade, health tourism, and folk traditions — constitutes not only economic heritage but also the foundation of identity. Losing such a place — whether physically or culturally — could result in the loss of regional identity.

3. The Lack of Flexibility in Current Cohesion Policy

The events in Parajd underscore the fact that the current EU cohesion instruments lack the flexibility needed to respond swiftly and effectively to such regional disasters. There is an urgent need for the unique characteristics of regions — including their cultural heritage — to be more strongly reflected in cohesion policy planning. A key role in this planning should be played by the place-based approach, which the EU supports even after 2021, yet which remains unfortunately too weak in practice.

The fate of the Parajd salt mine is not just a local disaster, but a warning: if cohesion policy fails to take into account the specific cultural and economic heritage of regions, Europe risks losing not only economic assets but also its identity.

Balázs Izsák
President of the Szekler National Council
Marosvásárhely, June 9, 2025