Policy Paper

Minority Rights Group collaborated with minority partner organizations to publish a report, Partnership for All? Measuring the Impact of Eastern Partnership for Minorities, which discusses role of the Eastern Partnership in minority rights. The report found that minority protections and rights have received little attention from the Eastern Partnership processes or the association package, which tend to focus on anti-discrimination measures rather than minority rights. Further, states that do implement minority rights legislation often lack proper implementation due to a lack of political commitment. European Union monitoring of minority rights has also been weak, as Progress Reports do not use clear, minority specific benchmarks when analyzing progress of member countries. Financial instruments, including the European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument and relevant Eastern Partnership programs, typically do not have systematic methods to implement minority rights measures. Although the EU has made significant steps in bringing civil society into the Eastern Partnership process through the establishment of the Civil Society Forum and National Platforms, minorities are consistently underrepresented. Following the Vilnius Summit, it remains to be seen if minority rights will be a more distinctive part of the development of closer ties with the EU and the implementation of reforms in the coming years.

In relation to the policy paper, Minority Rights Group plans to publish an Advocacy Guide for Eastern Partnership minorities in early 2015.