Fantastic Joana! This is a good opportunity to investigate the requirements that the EU is demanding the Balkan states meet with regard to minority groups, in order to be admitted into this select club.

The book by is . I need to see the place in situ, so I've asked Detectives Sans Frontiéres if I can continue my investigations in

; I'm going to go to , and . I've already got my bus tickets. It's just as well they didn't seem to mind! Quite the contrary, in fact, they thought it was a great idea.

Ivo Andric The Bridge on the Drina amazing

Bosnia Herzegovina Visegrád MostarSarajevo

The European Council today agreed that the associatedcountries in Central and Eastern Europe that so desireshall become members of the European Union.(…)

Membership requires that the candidate country hasachieved stability of institutions guaranteeingdemocracy, the rule of law, human rights and respectfor and protection of minorities.

It also requires the existence of afunctioning market economy as well as the capacity tocope with competitive pressure and market forces withinthe Union.

Membership presupposes the candidate'sability to take on the obligations of membershipincluding adherence to the aims of political, economicand monetary union.

The Union's capacity to absorb new members, whilemaintaining the momentum of European integration, isalso an important consideration in the general interestof both the Union and the candidate countries.

This text is part of the conclusions of the 1993 Copenhagen European Council (page 13).

Do these include any EU requirement regarding the treatment of minority groups? criteria

The EU uses periodical reports to check whether the states wishing to join the Union comply with the established requisites. These reports are compiled in the

.Directorate

General for Enlargement

We use two basic standards as references:1.- THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION EXPLANATORY REPORT FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES

What's its aim?

To guarantee?To protect? To ensure respect?

To develop?

In part III, measures are proposed for promoting the use of these languages. Indicate the different fields of application.To give you a clue, here are some drawings, although there are many more…

2.- The or European Charter for Regional Minority Languages

Areas of application of the measures proposed

You haven't finished yet. Now you have to compare so far with real life practice. Choose a state and say whether or not the situation of the minority groups is correct.

what you have seen

You are going to use the monitoring reports and a Eurobarometer survey to carry out your investigation and analysis.

If, for example, you choose Bulgaria or Romania, you can access their reports directly through this link: . Look closely at the first part: 'Political criteria', since it is here that the issue of minority rights is mainly dealt with.

The data of the survey can be found in the Eurobarometer. Find the data for Bulgaria and Romania in order to compare them with those from the monitoring reports for accession.

Bulgaria and Romania

Discrimination in the European Union

Here are with clearly .

Joana, we have to find and send them to the organisation, so that they can try and find some so lu t ions . We cou ld a lso inc lude some recommendations or possible plans of action.

some reports discriminatory situations

other cases

REPORTS EUROBAROMETER

I know you're probably tired, but we have to finish the investigation properly. We need to specify the requisites that the UE is demanding that candidate states comply with. Let's have a look at the regulations to which EU member states are supposed to adhere.

This investigation is getting harder all the time! But I suppose this is important. It doesn't seem that minority rights are a priority issue for the EU. Nevertheless, several references can be found in different legal texts.

ARTICLE OR ARTICLES OF THE CONVENTION THAT ARE

NOT COMPLIED WITH STATE

DISCRIMINATORY SITUATION

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

1.- Article 6(1) of the (TEU) says that:

Article 61. The Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, r e s p e c t f o r

human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles which are common to the Member States.

2. The for the protection of national minorities explains that minority rights form part of human rights:

Article 1The protection of national minorities and of the rights and freedoms of persons belonging to those minorities forms an integral part of the international protection of human rights, and as such falls within the scope of international co-operation

Treaty on European Union

Framework convention

From these answers we can deduce that, in the opinion of the Commission, the rights of those belonging to minority groups constitute one of the common principles of member states, as listed in section 1 of article 6 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). These principles, established by different international agreements, were solemnly reaffirmed in articles 21 and 22 of the . Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Read the articles of the Charter and explain their importance with regard to minority groups in the EU.

ARTICLE 21 ARTICLE 22

? How do the institutions interpret these texts?Look at which contains a series of posed by a Member of Parliament to the Commission, and their corresponding answers.

this text questions

Characteristics of the Treaty which touch upon issues related to the

situation of minority groups

The first case requires you to read a number of documents.In your opinion; how should the institutions act under these circumstances?

In your opinion, how are article 13 of the and Council Directives ,

of 29 June 2000, and , of 27 November 2000 related?

Treaty on European Union 2000/43/EC

2000/78/EC

Council Directive 2000/43/EC

Council Directive 2000/78/EC

You are now going to analyse two real-life cases in which European legislation has been applied.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE MR F. G. JACOBS, presented on 22 May 2003 Case C-148/02 Carlos García Avello versus the State of Belgium

1. The case deals with the surname borne by children born in Belgium to a married couple resident in that country.

The father is Spanish, the mother Belgian and the children have dual nationality.

2. When their births were registered in Belgium, the children were given their father's double-barrelled surname: García Avello, consisting, in accordance with Spanish law and custom, of his father's first surname and his mother's first surname.

3. Subsequently, the parents applied to the Belgian authorities to change their children's surname to García Weber, in accordance with the Spanish model (i.e. their father's first surname followed by their mother's maiden name). Said request was rejected on the basis of it being contrary to Belgian practice.

4. The Belgian Conseil d'État (Council of State) wants to clarify whether or not said refusal goes against the principles of community law, particularly those related to the nationality of the European Union and the free circulation of citizens.

ADVOCATE GENERAL

In my opinion...

The second case also requires you to read several documents. Read these two excerpts from the ruling. What, in your opinion, should be ruling be?

OK.

Now find the (case ) reached by the attorney general and explain its meaning.

What was the final ruling in this case? What European was taken into account?

conclusion C-148/02

legislation

RULING OF THE

of 24 November 1998

«Freedom of movement for persons · Equal treatment · Language rules applicable to criminal proceedings»

In case C-274/96,

Consisting of a petition addressed to the Court of Justice in accordance with article 177 of the EC Treaty, by the Pretura circondariale di Bolzano, sezione distaccata di Silandro (Italy), aimed at obtaining, in the penal proceedings brought before said jurisdictional body against

Horst Otto Bickel,

Ulrich Franz,

COURT OF JUSTICE

3. Mr Bickel is a lorry driver of Austrian nationality, resident in Nüziders, Austria. On 15 February 1994, while driving his lorry at Castelbello in the Trentino-Alto Adige Region of Italy, he was stopped by a carabinieri patrol and charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol.

4. Mr Franz, a German national resident in Peissenberg, Germany, visited the Trentino-Alto Adige as a tourist. On 5 May 1995, in the course of a customs inspection, he was found to be in possession of a type of knife that is prohibited.

5. In each case, the accused made a declaration in the presence of the District Magistrate of Bolzano that he had no knowledge of Italian and, relying on rules for the protection of the German-speaking community of the Province of Bolzano, requested that the proceedings be conducted in German.

In my opinion...

OK.

Now find the of the hearing ( and say which European was used to establish it.

ruling C-274/96legislation

)