The European Minority Rights Regime

Abstract

With the integration of Central and Eastern Europe into the political, economic and security organizations of the ‘West’, we have seen the level of coordination increase as part of the enlargement processes of the Council of Europe and the EU, whereas the OSCE has focused on ‘persons belonging to’ national minorities retrospective of membership. Importantly, we can see that in the EU enlargement process, these organizations worked together in order to encourage the implementation of policies that protected the rights of national minorities. It is this complex coordination between organizations that makes the European minority rights regime an interesting case study.