Compliance with the provisions of the decision on protecting minorities and fighting discrimination in the Member States

Subject: Compliance with the provisions of the decision on protecting minorities and fighting discrimination in the Member States

The decision on protecting minorities and fighting discrimination in the Member States, which is binding on the Commission and the governments of the Member States, devotes the main part of its content to protecting the rights of indigenous minorities and the prohibition of discrimination of all kinds. Among other things, the decision calls on the Commission to improve the promotion of regional and minority language teaching and use.

What action has the Commission taken so far in the Member States to protect the rights of indigenous minorities and to improve the promotion of regional and minority language teaching and use? What action does it plan to take in the future?

What action will the Commission take to improve the promotion of regional and minority language teaching and use among citizens living as indigenous minorities in non-Member States aiming to join the EU, such as Serbia and Ukraine?

What mechanism will the Commission use to monitor the respect of the rights of indigenous national and linguistic minorities in the future?

Answer given by Ms Jourová on behalf of the Commission

(11 July 2018)

The respect of the rights of persons belonging to minorities is one of the founding values of the European Union and a principle explicitly mentioned in the Treaty on European Union.

Within the remit of its competences, the Commission ensures that fundamental rights and, in particular, the right to non- discrimination, are respected when EC law is implemented. In the area of anti-discrimination, the Commission ensures that EU acquis (1) in the area of non-discrimination is effectively transposed and implemented. In order to promote anti-discrimination policies, the High Level Group on Non-discrimination, Equality and Diversity (2) brings together representatives from Member States to exchange good practices and discuss common concerns.

With regard to the promotion of regional and minority language, the EU has the role of supporting and supplementing Member State action. In this respect, the Commission has adopted recently a proposal for a new Recommendation (3) on a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning languages. This new initiatives highlights the importance of valuing linguistic diversity in schools, including with reference to minority or migrant languages, and offers a comprehensive approach to improving language education in schools.

Regarding the second question, in the context of EU accession negotiations, Serbia needs to meet the interim benchmarks set in the EU Common Position on Chapter 23 in the area of fundamental rights. In this respect, Serbia needs to step up the protection of minorities and cultural rights. Particular emphasis is put on education, the use of minority languages, access to media and religious services in minority languages and adequate representation in the public administration.

The EU finances projects related to national minorities’ issues, including the project ‘Strengthening the Protection of National Minorities in Serbia’ which aims to support the authorities in enhancing the rights of persons belonging to national minorities in Serbia and the project ‘The Houseleek’ which aimed at promoting culture of national minorities.

Under the European Neighbourhood Instrument, the EU is working on dedicated technical assistance for the development of teacher training and educational materials for persons belonging to national minorities in Ukraine.

Beyond the above, the Commission has no general power as regards minorities, in particular over issues relating to the recognition of the status of minorities or the regime governing the use of regional or minority languages. In these cases, Member States retain general powers to take decisions about minorities, as according to Article 51(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the provisions of the Charter are only addressed to the Member States when they are implementing EC law.

⋅1∙ Namely, the Racial Equality Directive, the Employment Equality Directive and the framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia.

⋅2∙ http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=3328

⋅3∙ https://ec.europa.eu/education/initiatives/european-education-area/improving-the-teaching-and-learning-of-languages_en






| | )It is thus for Member States to ensure compliance with their constitutional order and their obligations under international law and use all legal instruments available to them to guarantee that fundamental rights of national minorities living on their territories are complied with.