Digital democratic participation tools and EU cohesion policies what protections for regionally specific groups in member states’ territories?

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.