ECMI Publications Database

This publication offers an index of indicators to measure the performance of the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). The FCNM is one of the most important instruments in the protection of minorities and the promotion of minority rights in Europe. While there have been initiatives to conceptualize indicators for the FCNM, there has not been a comprehensive set of indicators developed. With this the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) seeks to begin filling this gap by providing an index of qualitative indicators.

Qualitative indicators are not as such the ultimate measuring tool to assess policy performances. They often precede quantitative data collection by providing the answers needed to design quantitative indicators. Thus, they ask specific, qualitative questions on the basis of which desirable quantitative outcomes can be described. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), indicators are parameters or values derived from information describing the state of a phenomenon. As such, they are an attempt to gather facts and information despite conditions of uncertainty due to lack of comprehensive data and to the ever-changing nature of the phenomena under analysis. Different types of indicators have different aims. The indicators provided in this publication aim to assess the effectiveness of national public policies; hence, they are governance indicators.

[Also available in Ukrainian language. Download here]