13 Leader or laggard? Diversity and minority rights in a union under strain

Abstract

In the 1990s, the European Union played a leadership role on minority rights. In particular, it used the Copenhagen criteria to instruct candidate states on respecting both national and sexual minority (LGBTI) rights and recognising those minorities as a fundamental component of the EU’s identity. But is the Union still a trailblazer three decades later? Although it continues to insist that third countries respect minority rights, within its own borders their commitment looks uncertain. The EU has taken few steps to advance the protection of minority rights since the ‘big bang’ enlargement of 2004. Moreover, the EU arguably lacks the executive powers necessary to ensure its own member states comply with the same values that it successfully imposes on candidate states. The so-called Copenhagen dilemma makes it difficult to respond effectively when member states backslide on minority rights. This chapter argues that, because of the lack of EU-level progress and national-level rights retrenchment, today’s Union no longer sets the pace on minority rights. Yet, important variations exist across the main institutions. Whether the EU is a leader or a laggard on minority rights thus depends on the concrete actors that one looks at. The chapter substantiates this argument by looking at how EU bodies responded to two issues: the Minority SafePack initiative on national minority rights and member states’ adoption of anti-LGBTI policies. The European Parliament has argued that the EUmust do more to protect both types of minorities. The Commission and the Council, in turn, dismissed calls for action. This remains true for national minority rights.When it comes to LGBTI rights, however, the chapter identifies lagged leadership: while the European Commission and the Council refused to intervene when Lithuania passed an anti-gay propaganda law, they have taken decisive action against similar, more recent developments in Hungary and Poland.