EU citizenship report deals with autochthonous minorities
The European Parliament accepted the 2017 annual report on EU citizenship, which, as a result of MEP Csaba Sógor’s contribution deals extensively with the protection of autochthonous minorities, too.
“The document reminds us that autochthonous minorities have been living alongside majority populations for centuries, and that the EU has to develop its own high standards of minority protection”, explained Sógor. As rapporteur of the Opinion of the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament, the RMDSZ MEP succeeded to insert several paragraphs in the final document that deal with the protection of autochthonous minorities.
The report draws attention to the fact that even though 8% of European citizens belong to an autochthonous minority and 10% speak a regional or a minority language, the Union still has no legal framework to protect them. As a result, there is no uniform treatment of ethnic and linguistic minorities in the different member states. The document also makes reference to the Copenhagen dilemma: while accession countries are required to respect criteria on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, including the protection of minorities, there is no such obligation for Member States, which is a reason for the need to develop a more effective mechanism to safeguard the EU's fundamental values after accession.
