European standards of minority protections - from conditionality to limitation: Case of Croatia

Abstract

EU promotes norms which lack a basis in EU law and do not directly translate into the acquis communautaire EU. Limits of EU conditionality in the area of minority rights are visible in closer look at the EU?s monitoring mechanism, including Regular Reports, which locate EU?s minority criterion in the domestic political context. Reports have structure broadly follows the Copenhagen criteria. Serious efforts are needed for achieving practical results flowing from the implementation of the legislative framework pertaining to minority issues. The same factors also affected the mechanisms? ability to influence that implementation. These factors concern the following: confusion regarding the juridical nature of the minority rights instruments, the vagueness or flexibility in the formulation of the standards, and unclarity as to the beneficiaries of the standards. Issue of soft instruments, vague norms and the lack of a definition of the beneficiaries of the norms will continue to trouble the minds of Governments, minorities, international mechanisms. EU must undertaking efforts to sharpen and further clarify the existing standards and to persuade Governments that existence of minority groups can enrich a society as a whole and that measures to preserve their specific characteristics will reduce the risks of violent conflicts. The case of Croatia, through Regular Reports, shows acceptation of European standards of minority protection in legal area, but with the limits in their implementation. In these circumstances Regular Reports describes attitude of EU toward minority issue; it is not priority of EU in accession process, difficulties in monitoring the implementation of minority issues and lack of precise definition norms in minority rights area.