Sustainability of Cultural Diversity and the Failure of Cohesion Policy in the EU: The Case of Szeklerland

Abstract

AbstractThe study focuses on the issue of preserving and maintaining the cultural and linguistic diversity of the EU and presents a possible way to utilize the tools of regional development planning for such purposes. The issue is of relevance for many reasons. Most importantly, the founding Treaties of the EU contain obligations of the Union to uphold its linguistic and cultural diversity. Additionally, maintaining this diversity is a crucial part of the human rights-based approach to sustainable development and as such forms an integral part of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The study first discusses why linguistic and cultural diversity is important from the point of view of sustainable development. It then presents the case study of Szeklerland in Romania as an illustrative example of how such diversity is under threat and concludes with a discussion on a possible way the EU can foster the preservation of its rich linguistic diversity through its regional development policy planning.KeywordsCultural diversitySocial cohesionRegional development policyHuman rightsSustainable developmentEU