Minority Protection

Equal access to quality education for Roma
Two volumes of reports out! International overview and country reports on Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

Muslims in EU Cities
Background reports available!

Prior monitoring: - See Reports!
- Muslims in the UK: Policies for Engaged Citizens (2004)
- Monitoring the local implementation of the Romanian Government Strategy for the Improvement of the Condition of Roma (2004)
- Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Minority Protection (2002)
- Monitoring Minority Protection in EU Member States (2002)
- Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Minority Protection (2001)

Current EUMAP monitoring of minority protection

This new EUMAP project Muslims in EU Cities was initiated in 2006 and follows up on previous EUMAP reports on the situation of Muslims in Europe. The monitoring will look at the situation of Muslims in seven EU countries. It will focus specifically on eleven selected major cities with significant Muslim populations. It will look in particular at the extent to which local policy addresses their needs and seeks to include them in the policy-making process. Read more...

The monitoring on Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma was initiated in 2005 and follows up on previous EUMAP reports on the situation of Roma in Europe. The project will culminate in the publication of a series of reports covering Roma education in each of the eight countries involved in the Decade of Roma Inclusion, 2005-2015. A first volume of reports was launched in April 2007 and covers Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia. A preliminary release of the report on Slovakia took place in 15 November 2007, and the final report as well as reports on Croatia, Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro and Slovakia and a regional overview report are forthcoming. Read more...

Monitoring minority protection and the EU accession process

In the European Community's foundational documents, there was little attention to fundamental rights or freedoms. However, over time, the EU has increasingly articulated its aspiration to represent not only stability and prosperity, but also democratic values, culminating with the adoption of explicitly political criteria for EU membership at the Copenhagen Council in 1993, including ‘‘respect for and protection of minorities.’’

The immediate consequence of the Copenhagen declaration was that candidate States were required to demonstrate that they ensure minority protection in order to accede to the EU. This has led to intense scrutiny by the EU institutions, in particular the Commission, of the situation of vulnerable minorities in the candidate States. The Commission has produced annual Regular Reports evaluating the progress of each of the candidate countries in fulfilling the so-called ‘‘Copenhagen criteria’’: the political and economic criteria and ability to take on the obligations of membership (acquis).

EU monitoring triggered considerable activity by candidate State Governments in the CEE, each of which has adopted a programme to improve the situation of minorities or to promote their integration into society. However, the requirement to demonstrate respect for, and protection of, minorities is as yet not matched in internal EU documents binding upon member States. Minority rights are until now excluded from EU-wide legislation and to date there are no explicit and binding minority protection ‘‘standards’’ on the EU level.

EUMAP monitoring of minority protection in Europe

EUMAP monitoring of minority protection was initiated in 2000 with the aim of encouraging an independent monitoring of the EU accession process by civil society actors, to complement the evaluations of the European Commission and contribute to articulating the EU's own human rights and minority protection standards. EUMAP has published two sets of reports on minority protection in the ten CEE accession countries - in 2001 and 2002.

A second volume of 2002 reports follow the same methodology, but address the situation of a vulnerable minority group in the five largest EU Member States: Muslims in France, Italy, and the UK; Roma in Germany and Spain.

Read more about the 2001-2002 EUMAP monitoring reports on minority protection in Europe.

Follow-up on EUMAP minority reports

In 2003, EUMAP supported local monitoring initiatives in Romania and the UK, launched as a follow-up to the earlier EUMAP minority protection reports on these countries, and collaborated in the preparation of a shadow report addressing the situation of Roma and Sinti women in Germany:

In Romania the first local monitoring of the implementation of the national strategy for Roma in five Romanian counties was published in September 2004. Five teams of young Roma activists worked on this joint project of EUMAP, OSI’s Roma Participation Program (RPP) and the Resource Center for Roma Communities in Cluj. Read more...

In the UK the aim of the follow-up monitoring and policy project was to examine and report on four key policy areas: of particular importance to British Muslims: education, employment, equality/anti-discrimination and access to justice. Monitoring reports recommended possible innovative and workable policy options to deliver improvements in meeting the needs, tackling the disadvantages, and supporting the participation of, British Muslims. A report including policy papers on each of the four areas monitored, together with an overview section providing general analysis and recommendations, was published in late 2004. Read more...

Concerning Germany, in 2004 EUMAP in cooperation with the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) prepared a joint shadow report on the situation of Sinti and Roma women in this country. The shadow report, drawing on the previously published EUMAP minority protection monitoring report on Germany and additional field research, was submitted to the UN (CEDAW) in the run-up to the Committee’s review of the regular State report of Germany on its implementation of the Convention. The Committee’s Concluding Comments reflected EUMAP-ERRC recommendations on the need to address the disadvantages faced by minority women in Germany, including Sinti and Roma women, with regard to access to such vital areas as education, employment, healthcare and political participation. Download the report...

To request copies of these reports, please use the Publication order form. Please note that the 2002 minority protection reports are no longer available in print. However, all reports remain available online.

If you are interested in being informed about the follow-up work on these reports please click here