Kisebbségpolitikai
On-line Lexikon

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is the deliberative body of the Strasbourg-based multilateral organisation, which was founded in 1949 and today has 47 members. In the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR, 1950), the concept of national minority appears for the first time in the context of prohibition of discrimination. Recommendation 285(1961) on the rights of national minorities proposed a definition of national minorities in the form of an additional protocol to the ECHR. The debate on individual and collective rights confirmed the protection of ECHR extended to individual rights, and no additional protocol was adopted. PACE Recommendation 814(1977) on modern languages in Europe launched the work aimed at the protection of linguistic and cultural rights and the preservation of cultural diversity. This was followed by Recommendation 928(1981) on educational and cultural problems relating to European minority languages and dialects, which gave impetus to protecting languages in a treaty. This process culminated on 5 November 1992, when the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ETS 148) was opened for signature. The democratic changes of 1989-90 in Central and Eastern Europe gave a new dynamic to the legal regulation of the protection of national minorities. According to PACE Recommendation 1134(1990), “respect for the rights of minorities and of persons belonging to them is an essential factor in the maintenance of peace, justice, stability and democracy.” The Recommendation again proposes the adoption of a specific ECHR protocol on minorities. In this area the most influential proposal was made in the additional protocol on minorities attached to Recommendation 1201(1993), which was not endorsed by the Vienna summit of the heads of state and government of the organisation on 8-9 October 1993 but is taken into account as a reference basis for bilateral agreements (e.g. Hungarian-Slovak, Hungarian-Romanian intergovernmental treaties) and for the assessment of new applications for membership. The Vienna summit made a political and legal commitment to protect Europe’s national minorities. The result was the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS 157), which was opened for signature on 1 February 1995. PACE recommendations and reports (on the concept of the nation, the situation and rights of national minorities, the protection and promotion of regional or minority languages) were also adopted as a result of the work of Hungarian rapporteurs (György Frunda, Ferenc Kalmár and Rózsa Hoffman).
The list of PACE reports and recommendations since 1989 is as follows: Recommendation 1134(1990) on the rights of minorities (Brincat Report); Recommendation 1201(1993) on the Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on the rights of national minorities (Worms Report); Resolution 52(1997) (Federalism, regionalism, local autonomy and minorities); Recommendation 43(1998) (Territorial autonomy and national minorities); Recommendation 1334(2003) (Positive experiences of autonomous regions as a source of inspiration for conflict resolution in Europe – Gross report); Recommendation 1735(2006) (The concept of the nation – Frunda report); Recommendation 1811(2007) (Regionalisation in Europe – De Puig report); Resolution 361(2013) (Special status regions and territories in Europe); Resolution 1985(2014) (Situation and rights of national minorities in Europe – Kalmár report); Recommendation 2118(2018) (Protection and promotion of regional or minority languages in Europe – Hoffman report).