The Gradual Emergence of European Minority Rights

Abstract

The Gradual Emergence of European Minority RightsMinorities represent diversity within any given entity or group. The constitutional framing or at least the respect of their role is an important marker for a successful balance of diversity and unity. The acknowledgement of minorities is the litmus test of democracies. The European Union is composed of minorities: none of its peoples or states holds a majority within the Union. Already for this reason, respect for and protection of minorities is part of the very nature of the Union. The mechanisms through which the resulting diversity of states and peoples is protected and balanced with unity have been discussed in previous chapters. However, another category of minority exists within and across peoples and EU Member States in the form of minorities within Member States. In this chapter we discuss the impact of recognition, protection, and integration of minorities at the level of Member States. The focus here is on national and ethnic minorities. One might also consider other minority groups, such as political, sexual, or religious minorities that share some features with national minorities: their protection is a defining feature of liberal democracies. Some minority categories are based on personal traits that are subject to little or no change, others might not be immutable but constitute an important feature of an individual's political and social identity. National minorities are given central attention, as their selfidentification is closely linked to nations and states and thus to the core categories of diversity and unity on which the European Union is founded.

Minority Status and Support for Supranational Integration

“…In the pursuit of cosmopolitan values such as international peace and human rights, supranational institutions limit the policy autonomy of their member states. For example, the EU has promoted the respect of minority rights and non-discrimination laws (Ahmed, 2015;Sasse, 2008), and acted to reduce nationality problems in post-communist states (Bieber & Bieber, 2021). While the loss of sovereignty implicit in supranational integration can spur backlash among majority individuals, minorities are less likely to perceive integration as an identity threat.…”

Socio-Economic Aspects of Work and the Labour Market in Four Roma Communities in Romania

“…Regarding the second context, Romania's accession to the EU in relation to national minority rights has been presented antithetically by scholars: on the one hand there are researchers who consider that EU accession has influenced the protection of their rights (Kelley, 2004b), on the other hand there are researchers who consider that the success of protecting the dept is limited because discrimination has continued after EU accession (Sobotka & Vermeersch, 2012;Sasse, 2008;Bieber & Bieber, 2021) especially in terms of Roma integration in the labour market (Ionescu & Cace 2006b;Cace et al, 2010;Preoteasa et al, 2010;Breimo & Baciu, 2016;Anghel, 2019).…”