‘Guarded welcome’ A Review of New Legislation and Institutions Dealing with Migration and Foreigners

Contested Norms in the Process of EU Enlargement: Non-Discrimination and Minority Rights

“…The individually formulated minority clause, with some minor changes, was included in the final version of the constitution adopted on 2 April 1997. 101 It is widely recognised that the 'protection of minority rights prescribed by this article goes beyond general principles of equality and non-discrimination of citizens as embodied in the old (communist) Constitution of 1952', 102 and the achievement was praised in the Commission Opinion on Poland's accession. 103 Although the second paragraph reintroduces a collective formulation, leading some foreign scholars to conclude that the constitution protects minority rights in both individual and collective terms, 104 the dominant interpretation in Poland is that the new constitution upholds 'an individualised approach to the protection of minorities by using a phrase 'Polish citizens belonging to national or ethnic minorities', which is consistent with the currently existing international standards'.…”