Chapter 1: On the Dismissal of the MSPI Action by the General Court of the EU (Case T-158/21)

Abstract In its judgment of 9 November 2022, the General Court (GC) of the European Union fully upheld the European Commission’s Communication setting out the reasons for not adopting any of the (legislative) proposals put forward by the Minority SafePack Initiative (MSPI). This paper argues that several MSPI proposals do indeed tie in with existing EU competences and would lead to a significant extension of the protection of persons belonging to minorities within the Union. However, given the Commission’s wide discretion in responding to European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECI) and the limited standard of judicial review in this regard, it will be difficult to challenge the Commission’s dismissive response even on appeal. This does not necessarily mean the end of the initiative. The validity of its proposals under EU law is visibly consolidating and even the outcome of the appeal proceedings would not prejudice seeking to implement them by other (political) means. This paper provides a legal assessment of the above-mentioned first instance decision.