As minorias na União Europeia

Abstract

Welcoming a growing demand for International Law, the European Union recognizes the need to protect the rights of the members of the minorities it houses in its territory. To this end, it is committed to the adoption of a model of “complex citizenship”, capable of combining the acceptance of the identity traits that these people manifest, with the identification of universal axiological references, which, acting as channels of integration and essential factors of organization of coexistence, are none other than fundamental rights expressly guaranteed by the Charter. The sum of all of them constitutes the expression of a kind of “European identity”, based on common values and principles shared by its Member States. Thus, currently, Europe has provided itself with a double standard of protection of the rights of people belonging to minorities, the one expressed by the Council of Europe and the one that the European Union itself has gradually created. However, a growing tension has been noted between this legitimate claim for recognition and the aspiration of Member States to preserve certain elements that distinguish their national identity. In the increasingly numerous and complex migrant minority, European protection policies are summarized, putting their sincerity to the test.