| | In Europe there are some areas where the problems of minority groups have been solved to the satisfaction of all concerned and others where there is still a latent risk of conflict. In the envisaged process of enlargement, the EU is about to admit into its ranks countries that find themselves in a difficult situation because of the lack of protection offered to the minorities living there. For that reason alone, protection for minorities was one of the political criteria that the candidate countries had to satisfy.
This document, which has been prepared by a select team of experts from several different countries steered by the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Regional Autonomy, contains a number of specific and realistic suggestions for the legal instruments and measures needed to enshrine protection for minorities in Community law. The proposals elaborated on the basis of various European treaties and agreements, and the provisions of existing law pertaining to human rights, non-discrimination, cultural diversity, and economic and social coherence, include a number of measures that are based even more specifically and clearly on an approach to political decision-making that is oriented towards protection for minorities. |
