Framework Convention *
Advancing the Efficiency of the Global Structures of Minority Rights Protection on the Basis of the "Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities"
Object and Purpose
The Framework Convention Project seeks to study and accelerate the development of legal and political structures governing minority-majority relations and ethnic coexistence at the European level. In particular, it intends to significantly advance the interpretation of the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (adopted on February 1, 1995, ETS No. 157). The Framework Convention is the first and so far the only binding and comprehensive international treaty on minority issues. However, its provisions are invariably general in nature. It is therefore necessary to fill in the gaps and generalities in the individual provisions through an advanced interpretation. Such an interpretation can only be derived from the relevant state practice. The review of the consolidated state practice will show that the obligations on states are more advanced than they appear to be from the general wording of the Framework Convention.
Background
In response to unsettled minority issues that led to destabilization in Central and Eastern European countries, regional international organizations, namely the Council of Europe and the OSCE, have enhanced their work in the field of minority rights in the early 1990s. One of the most important outcomes is the Framework Convention, which can be considered as a crucial tool for stabilization. The first cycle of implementation of the Convention is now well underway and its outcomes have not yet been presented in a structured way, let alone analysed in a scholarly fashion. Apart from fostering research on the Framework Convention in other ways - in particular by encouraging the publication of scholarly papers in the Yearbook - ECMI with the present project intends to establish the first comprehensive commentary on that particular treaty.
The Preparatory Phase (2001/2)
In order to facilitate in-depth scholarly analysis, it was first necessary to assemble the necessary data on state practice. The raw data comprises the negotiating history of the Convention, other international instruments (treaties, declarations and recommendations) adopted by the Council of Europe, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, the OSCE, the European Union, and other international organizations, as well as the most significant secondary documents produced within these regimes and pertaining to the implementation procedures and the interpretation, and the state reports submitted by member states, the opinions of the Advisory Committee, the responses by states, and the Recommendations adopted by the Committee of Ministers. In a first phase of the project, an analytical digest of this material was created during 2001 and 2002 with the generous financial support of the Council of Europe.
The Research Phase
That phase, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, began in March 2003 and is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2004. It will yield in particular a Commentary on the Framework Convention, co-authored by a team of nine leading experts in the field, accompanied by a shorter Guide to Best Practice. The article-by-article approach chosen by the project leaders will allow the commentators to cover both the substantive and the procedural provisions of the Convention. The interrelationship between the Framework Convention and other, in particular universal treaties will be duly taken into account in this connection by including comparative sections on implementation procedures and their functioning in practice. The scholarly advances generated through the Commentary will also be reflected in the Guide derived from this work, which is more accessible to governments and minority organizations.
Dr. Frank Selbmann (2001/2), Project Team
Kyriaki Topidi (2003/4), Project Team
Hannah McGlue (part-time, Spring 2002), Project Team
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities Database
Practice-oriented Projects
OMC Programme *
Meskhetian Turks Project *
Framework Convention *
Complex Power-Sharing *
Language Politics in Transition Countries *
Implementation of Minority Rights Standards *
Political Participation
Ethnic Democracy in Europe *
Evaluating Policy Measures for Minority Languages *
Support for Minority Languages in the European Union *
Educational Policy and Minorities: Pilot Project Ukraine *
Minority Governance Concepts *
