Member states of the Framework Convention for the Protection on National Minorities

The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) is a

multilateral treaty A multilateral treaty is a treaty to which two or more sovereign states are parties. Each party owes the same obligations to all other parties, except to the extent that they have stated reservations. Examples of multilateral treaties include the ...

of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

aimed at protecting the rights of minorities. It came into effect in 1998 and by 2009 it had been ratified by 39 member states.

History

The Council of Europe first discussed according specific protection for national minorities in 1949, but it was not until 1990 that the Council of Europe made a firm commitment to protect these minority groups. Recommendation 1134 (1990) contained a list of principles which the Assembly considered necessary for this purpose. The Parliamentary Assembly did in the beginning call for adoption of a protocol to the ECHR. The Framework was signed in February 1995 by 22 member States of the

and became active in 1998. By mid-2005, 43 member states had signed and 39 ratified it.

Aims and criticism

The broad aims of the convention are to ensure that the signatory states respect the rights of national minorities, undertaking to combat discrimination, promote equality, preserve and develop the culture and identity of national minorities, guarantee certain freedoms in relation to access to the media,

minority language A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) ...

s and education and encourage the participation of national minorities in public life. Article 25 of the Framework Convention binds the member states to submit a report to the Council of Europe containing "full information on the legislative and other measures taken to give effect to the principles set out in this framework Convention" (Council of Europe, 1994, 7). The convention has come under some criticism. First of all, not all member states of the Council of Europe have signed and ratified it. France and Turkey have done neither. Iceland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Greece have signed and have yet to ratify. Also, the provisions offer little new on already existing international treaties. Furthermore, they are hedged around with many phrases including "as far as possible" (Art 10.2). The convention does not define "national minority" and several countries set their own definition of the term when they ratified the treaty. For example, the United Kingdom ratified the convention on the understanding that it would be applied with reference to "racial groups" within the meaning of Section 3(1) of the

Race Relations Act 1976 The Race Relations Act 1976 was established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to prevent discrimination on the grounds of race. The scope of the legislation included discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic and n ...

. Since this excluded the

Cornish people The Cornish people or Cornish ( kw, Kernowyon, ang, Cornƿīelisċ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons ...

, this resulted in pressure, including from

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition ...

, for the UK Government to recognise the Cornish as a national minority. In April 2014, it was announced by the

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burde ...

Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...

, that the UK Government would recognise the Cornish as a national minority under the FCNM. Overall however, Phillips (2002) has argued that because the FCNM is flexible it has allowed such a great number of states to ratify it so quickly. Therefore, it should not be considered a failure, but a start. Many authors agree with this arguing that it needs to be implemented in 'good faith' with the political will to support commitment to

minority rights Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements ...

References

External links

Data on Conventions on Council of Europe portalSecretariat of the Framework ConventionEurominority map of minorities, native peoples and ethnic groups European languagesEuropean Centre for Minority IssuesThe Rights of Minorities in Europe 2008 – A Commentary on the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Marc WellerRecommendations from NGOs for increasing the effectiveness and expanding the ratification of the FCNM 2008The re-politicization of minority protection: six cases from the FCNM monitoring process, ECMI Study #7 (2012) by Tove H. Malloy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Framework Convention For The Protection Of National Minorities Council of Europe treaties Politics of Europe Ethnic minorities Minority rights Treaties concluded in 1995 Treaties entered into force in 1998 Treaties of Albania Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Estonia Treaties of Finland Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Italy Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Malta Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of Norway Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Romania Treaties of Russia Treaties of San Marino Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Kingdom 1995 in France Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands

History

Aims and criticism

See also

References

External links