Minority policy in Central Europe: Exploring the impact of the EU's enlargement strategy

Abstract

They were able to set new rules and new legislation based on EU law and learned to implement it properly. Human rights were respected and minorities protected. Nothing within this process is self-evident but is a fantastic result of a human driving-force for reform, mainly driven forward by the enlargement perspective. (Verheugen 2002) Verheugen’s argument exemplifies a widely accepted view about the profound positive impact of the EU’s enlargement process on domestic governance in Central Europe. His reference to the protection of minorities in this context is not accidental. Many politicians and regional specialists alike believe that the process leading to the eastward enlargement of the EU helped engender new and better forms of national minority protection in post -communist countries (e.g., Rupnik 2000: 123-124). But, although assumptions like these seem quite plausible, they are often put forward without much further empirical investigation. Whilst the general effects of membership conditionality and monitoring by the European Commission are acknowledged by various studies, there is little research on the particular impact of conditions and negotiations on the specific policy area of minority protection. And thus new questions spring to mind. If the prospect of EU membership was an important factor in the field of national minority protection, in what direction, then, and to what extent did the EU shape domestic policy-making on national minorities in the candidate countries? And to what extent is the EU factor still visible in current policy plans? This article explores these questions by comparing the ways in which national minority policy developed in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. 1 In recent years these three countries introduced important changes in minority policy, although not always in the same direction. By examining the presence and role of references to the EU in policy formulation, this article will attempt to determine whether ‘EU-isation’ has been a major force driving changes in national minority policy; it will also explore possible other factors. The discussion starts with a brief overview of the minority situation in the three countries under consideration. It then proceeds with a short discussion of the EU’s enlargement strategy. The core of the article, section three, will chart the development of minority policy in the three countries. It will not be my purpose to offer a detailed historical overview; rather I will focus on what appear to be the most important driving forces in the domestic policy-making process. An analysis of official policy documents will allow to assess the role the EU factor has played in this development. 2