Topics

The EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) monitors selected human rights and rule of law issues in Europe.

EUMAP was initiated in 2000 to provide independent monitoring of the EU accession process for the ten Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. EUMAP’s monitoring was based on the underlying principle that the accession process is a positive development, and that independent monitoring was one means of magnifying its beneficial effects, both within the candidate States and in the EU itself, by articulating the existence or the need for clear standards and for ensuring their proper implementation across the board.

EUMAP’s monitoring was in particular inspired by the European Commission’s regular monitoring reports on the progress of each candidate country towards the fulfillment of the 'Copenhagen criteria' (political and economic criteria, and the ability to take on the obligations of membership - acquis communautaire). EUMAP focused on the political criteria, which requires each candidate country to ensure ''stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and the respect for and protection of minorities''.

Following the accession of ten new member States on 1 May 2004, an important stage of EU enlargement is now completed. A central premise of EUMAP’s approach is that independent monitoring on human rights and rule of law standards is necessary in both candidate and member countries. EUMAP will, therefore, continue to monitor and advocate on selected issues, both in EU member States (new and old) and in countries at all stages of the EU accession process.

Since 2000, EUMAP has carried out monitoring on six different areas or ''topics'' and significantly broadened its geographical focus. EUMAP’s ongoing and past monitoring activities have encompassed the following topics:

Current topics

Minority Protection: Equal access to quality education for Roma
The monitoring of equal access to quality education for Roma incorporates four main goals: to assess the implementation of government education policies for Roma; to provide data on key education indicators; to promote consultation with Roma communities on education issues; and to establish a framework for regular monitoring throughout the Decade of Roma Inclusion. Read more...

Muslims in the EU: City Reports
The monitoring project Muslims in the EU: Cities Reports focuses on the situation of Muslims in eleven selected major cities across the EU with significant Muslim populations. It looks in particular at the extent to which local policy addresses their needs and seeks to include them in the policy-making process. In each selected city, monitoring focuses on the following general areas: consultation and participation; social protection, covering access to social services in general, with a particular focus on housing and healthcare; education; employment; safety and security. Read more...

Media Policy: Television across Europe
The mass media in Europe are presently going through profound transformation, with their technology, economic basis, legal framework and target audiences changing at a rapid pace. This ongoing transformation process has, in particular, raised questions about the role public television should play in the future. A main focus has been on the regulations and policies established to secure its independence from both commercial and political interests, and ensure that it is able to play its role as an essential pillar of democracy. Read more...

Topics of past EUMAP monitoring

Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities
Throughout Europe people with intellectual disabilities (also described as ''learning disabilities'') still face serious stigma, prejudice and significant barriers to realising their fundamental human rights. Discrimination in relation to people with intellectual disabilities is still deeply rooted and widespread, standing in the way of positive change. With the overall aim of achieving the fuller social inclusion of this group, improving opportunities for access to inclusive education and to supported employment in the open market are priority areas. Read more...

Minority Protection
The EU has increasingly articulated its aspiration to represent not only stability and prosperity, but also democratic values. The Copenhagen political criteria for EU membership explicitly refers to ''respect for and protection of minorities'', and candidate States are required to demonstrate that they ensure minority protection in order to accede to the EU. In Central and Eastern Europe, this has lead to intense scrutiny by the EU institutions, in particular the Commission, of the situation of vulnerable minorities in these countries. Read more...

Judiciary
Although the ''Copenhagen criteria'' for EU accession do not specifically refer to the question of judicial independence, the political criteria requires ensuring ''stability of institutions guaranteeing ... the rule of law''. This would be inconceivable without an independent and impartial judiciary. The judiciary occupies a unique position in a democratic society. It is called upon to decide disputes that cannot or should not be left to the political branches or private individuals. It upholds the law for all, safeguarding the rights of individuals and minority groups against the excesses of majoritarianism. It also combats corruption, confronting the interests of the political branches or powerful individuals. Read more...

Corruption and Anti-corruption Policy
Corruption has consistently been one of the major concerns of the Commission in its evaluations of the progress of EU candidate States. These concerns are well founded, given that corruption can (directly or indirectly) impact on each of the three areas covered by the ''Copenhagen Criteria'' and evaluated by the Commission. Corruption can undermine the implementation of the acquis communautaire, the smooth functioning of the single market, and the quality of democratic institutions and of core democratic values the Union seeks to represent. The Commission has been able to require the CEE countries to put in place anti-corruption policies. However, its task has been seriously limited by the fact that the EU itself largely lacks an adequate anti-corruption framework. Read more...

Equal Opportunities
Gender equality is a sine qua non condition within the EU accession process. In this sense, the 1998 Report from the Commission on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the EU clearly states within the Section 5 – Equality and Enlargement that: ''The social dimension is an essential element of the Community order and gender equality and equal opportunities are an integral part of the social dimension. There is no accession without equal opportunities between women and men. This message has been clearly formulated by the European Parliament and by the European Commission.'' Read more...