Digital democratic participation tools and EU cohesion policies
what protections for regionally specific groups in member states’ territories?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60054/PEU.2025.12.165-179Keywords:
digital participation, Union’s cohesion policies, “national minority regions”, European identity, European cultureAbstract
The political debate on the protection of minorities and the diversity that characterises the EU Members States’ territories remains open; it involves the Union’s growth strategies and pushes for the promotion of an inclusive European identity that respects the geographical and cultural diversity of the European regions. Some European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) push the EU to distinguish at a regulatory level geographical areas with cultural, ethnic, linguistic or religious specificities from the wider neighbouring areas of the Member State in which they are located; to adopt, for example, the concept of “region with a national minority” and to protect the specific groups located in the Union in line with Article 2 TEU and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (hereinafter: Charter).
This proves that bottom-up impulses, which the EU facilitates in a pioneering way, can synthesise the EU democratic and participatory values and the aims of social and economic progress and that e-participation and cohesion policy can foster unexplored perspectives in the integration process.
The paper* aims to reconstruct the essential characteristics and purposes of European cohesion policies and digital participation tools also considering the relevant European jurisprudence; investigate their ability to contribute to the future of the Union; deepen the interactions useful for protecting the singular groups present within the members.
References
Adam, R., & Tizzano, A. (Eds.). (2024). Manuale di diritto dell’Unione europea. Giappichelli.
Ahmed, T. (2011). The impact of EU law on minority rights. Hart Publishing.
Amalfitano, C. (2018). General principles of EU law and the protection of fundamental rights. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Amato, G., & Batt, J. (1998). Minority rights and EU enlargement to the east. Report of the first meeting of the reflection group on the long-term implications of EU enlargement: The nature of the new border (RSC Policy Papers Series, No 98/5). European University Institute.
Asli Bilgin, A. (2019). Minority protection in the European Union: To protect or not to protect. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 92–115.
Balint, K. (2020). Non-territorial autonomy in East-central Europe: What about Romania? Central European Journal of Comparative Law (CEJCL), 87–110.
Baratta, R. (2018). La “communauté de valeurs” dans l’ordre juridique de l’Union européenne. Revue des affaires européennes, 81–91.
Barten, U. (2015). Minority rights in the European Union after Lisbon. Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 74–94.
Capotorti, F. (1979). Study on the rights of persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. UN. available online.
Caruso, F. (2010). Le competenze dell’Unione europea e degli stati membri in materia di “istruzione”. Diritto e società, 207 ff.
Circolo, A. (2023). Il valore dello stato di diritto nell’Unione europea. Violazioni sistemiche e soluzioni di tutela. Editoriale Scientifica.
Craig, E. (2021). The framework convention for the protection of national minorities and internalization: Lessons from the Western Balkans. Review of Central and East European Law, 1–40.
Damato, A. (2017). Profili critici e istanze di revisione del diritto di iniziativa dei cittadini europei. Il Diritto dell’Unione Europea, 39–67.
De Witte, B. Market integration and cultural diversity in EU law. In V. Vadi & B. De Witte (Eds.), Culture and international economic law (p. 193 ff.). Routledge.
Gordos, A. L’integration européenne et la sanvegarde des valeurs culturelles. In F. Delpérée & L. Trocsanyi (Eds.), L’unité et la diversité de l’Europe - Les droits des minorités. Les exemples belge et hongrois. Bruylant.
Guliyeva, G. Defining the indefinable: A definition of ‘minority’ in EU law. In T. H. Malloy & J. Marko (Eds.), Minority governance in and beyond Europe - Celebrating 10 years of the European yearbook of minority issues (pp. 165–198). Brill Nijhoff.
Hillion C. (2004). EU enlargement a legal approach. Bloomsbury Academic.
Hitaj, E. (2017). L’allargamento dell’Unione europea verso i balcani occidentali. Stabilità politica della regione oltre i criteri di Copenaghen? Rivista della cooperazione giuridica internazionale, 49–65.
Hooghe, L. (Ed.). (1996). Cohesion policy and European integration: Building multilevel governance. Oxford University Press.
Inglese, M. (2020). L’iniziativa dei cittadini europei a dieci anni dal trattato di Lisbona: Tra consolidate criticità e inesplorate prospettive. Federalismi.it, 194–215.
Jacob-Owens, T. (2021). Immigration and multicultural citizenship in Europe: Insights from the framework convention for the protection of national minorities. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 167–197.
Lopes, D., & Pacheco, Y. V. (Eds.). (2023). European citizens’ initiative: A tool for engagement and active citizenship. Göttingen University Press.
Marletta, M., & Parisi, N. (Eds.). (2008). Multiculturalismo e Unione Europea. Giappichelli.
Matijevic, M. V. (2020). Adequate representation of persons belonging to national minorities in public sector: the nature, content and scope of obligations in the comments of the advisory committee for the framework convention. Foreign Legal Life, 55–68.
Nagy, N., & Szappanyos, M. (2021). The rights of European minorities: Justice, public administration, participation, transfrontier exchanges and citizenship - International developments in 2021. European Yearbook of Minority Issues, 133–160.
Ognjanoska, L. (2021). Promoting the rule of law in the EU enlargement policy: A twofold challenge. Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy, 237–278.
Ovádek, M. (2018). The rule of law in the EU: Many ways forward but only one way to stand still? Journal of European Integration, 495–503.
Pesce, C. (2016). Democrazia rappresentativa e democrazia partecipativa nell’Unione europea. Editoriale Scientifica.
Pesce, C. Coesione economica, sociale e territoriale. In G. Tesauro, P. De Pasquale, & F. Ferraro (Eds.), Manuale di diritto dell’Unione europea (pp. 499–510). Editoriale Scientifica.
Pesce, C. Cultura. In G. Tesauro, P. De Pasquale, & F. Ferraro (Eds.), Manuale di diritto dell’Unione europea (pp. 462–468). Editoriale Scientifica.
Piattoni, S., & Polverari, L. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook on cohesion policy in the EU. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Relaño Pastor E., & Topidi K. (Eds.). (2024). Minority rights and social change norms, actors and strategies. Routledge.
Rossi, L. S. Fundamental values, principles, and rights after the treaty of Lisbon: The long journey toward a European constitutional identity. In F. Berrod (Eds.), Europe(s), Droit(s) européen(s). Une passion d’universitaire. Liber amicorum en l’honneur du professeur Vlad Constantinesco (pp. 511–524). Bruylant.
Safjan, M. (2019). The rule of law and the future of Europe. Il Diritto dell’Unione Europea, 425–440.
Santini A. (2019). Il nuovo regolamento sull’iniziativa dei cittadini europei: tra continuità e innovazione. In Temi e questioni di diritto dell’Unione europea (pp. 621–634). Cacucci.
Santini, A. (2019). L’iniziativa dei cittadini europei. Quale contributo alla legittimità democratica dell’Unione?. Editoriale Scientifica.
Sargentini, J., & Dimitrovs, A. (2016). The European parliament’s role: Towards new Copenhagen criteria for existing member states. Journal of Common Market Studies, 1085–1092.
Skalnik Leff, C., & Armeanu, O. I. (2017). Ethnic politics of the Hungarian minorities in Slovakia, Romania, and Serbia in 2015. European Yearbook of Minority, 321–250.
Skouris, V. L’identité nationale: qui détermine son contenu et selon quels critères? In Liber amicorum Antonio Tizzano. De la Cour CECA à la Cour de l’Union: le long parcours de la justice européenne (pp. 912–924). Giappichelli.
Spieker, L. D. (2023). EU values before the court of justice: Foundations, potential, risks. Oxford University Press.
Tesauro, G. La politica di coesione ed il rapporto con le altre politiche comunitarie. In A. Predieri (Eds.), Fondi strutturali e coesione economica e sociale nll’Unione europea. Atti del convegno (Firenze, 12-13 maggio 1995) (p. 123 ff.). Giuffrè.
Tesauro, G. (2021). Senza europa nessun paese andrà lontano. Annali AISDUE, 341 ff.
Tesauro, G., De Pasquale, P., & Ferraro, F. (Eds.). (2023). Manuale di diritto dell’Unione europea. Editoriale Scientifica.
Toggenburg, G. N. (2002). The race directive: A new dimension in the fight against ethnic discrimination in Europe. European Yearbook of Minority Issues, 231 ff.
Toggenburg, G. N. (2003). Minorities (...) the European union: Is the missing link an “of’ or a “within”? Journal of European Integratrion, 273–284.
Toggenburg, G. N. (2010). Exploring the fundament of a new agent in the field of rights protection: The f(undamental) r(ights) a(gency) in Vienna. European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online, 597–625.
Topidi, K. (2013). Are the Copenhagen criteria undermined by the Lisbon treaty? European Yearbook of Minority, 37–59.
Tudisco, V. (2022). National human rights institutions and access to justice for national minorities in Europe. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 577–603.
Von Arnauld, A. Harmonisation through general principles of law. In K. S. Ziegler, P. J. Neuvonen, & V. Moreno-Lax (Eds.), Research handbook on general principles in EU law (pp. 40–61). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Von Bogdandy, A., & Spieker, L. D. Protecting fundamental rights beyond the charter. Repositioning the reverse solange doctrine in light of the CJEU, s article 2 TEU case law. In M. Bobek & J. Adams-Prassl (Eds.), The EU charter of fundamental rights in the member states (pp. 525–546). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Wouters, J. (Ed.). (2020). The European union and human rights: Law and policy. Oxford University Press.
Wouters, J., & Ovádek, M. (2021). The European union and human rights: Analysis, cases, and materials. Oxford University Press.
