EC & CoE Joint Programme on National Minorities in Europe
Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 09:28:17 +0200 (EET)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: EC & CoE Joint Programme on National Minorities in Europe
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Fernand de Varennes <[email protected]>
EC & CoE Joint Programme on National Minorities in Europe
Launching of the European Commission and Council of Europe Joint
Programme on National Minorities in Europe
STRASBOURG 12.03.99 - The Sixth meeting of Government Offices for the
Protection of National Minorities will take place in Strasbourg on 15
and 16 March next. It will mark the launching of the new Joint
Programme, "National Minorities in Europe", signed by the EUROPEAN
COMMISSION and the COUNCIL OF EUROPE in early January.
This programme, which is jointly financed by the two European
institutions, is a unique form of co-operation between European
countries in the field of national minorities. It concerns practical
activities between the government sectors responsible for minority
issues and the representatives of national minorities.
This Joint Progamme was one of the measures mentioned in the Action
Plan adopted in October 1997 at the Second Summit of Heads of State
and Government of Council of Europe member states.
An initial Joint Programme between the European Commission and the
Council of Europe, entitled "Minorities in Central European
Countries", was carried out between the second half of 1996 and early
1998 as a measure to support the Stability Pact. The Programme was
organised around periodical meetings of the Government Offices for
National Minorities of seventeen central and east European countries
and led to the organisation of thematic seminars and approximately
fifteen study visits for groups of government experts.
In view of the success of the first Joint Programme, it was decided
that a second programme, costing a total of Euros 615385, should be
launched for the period 1999-mid 2000. There are four new aspects to
this new Joint Programme:
it is open to all member states;
it is based on a primarily thematic approach (media, education,
participation in decision-making processes, etc);
it concerns mainly sub-regional or bilateral projects;
it envisages greater participation by representatives of national
minorities.
The first day of the meeting will be devoted to the planning of
activities and general discussions on the progamme; the second will
deal with the question of national minorities� participation in
decision-making procedures, on the occasion of a joint meeting with
the Committee of Experts on Issues relating to the Protection of
National Minorities (DH-MIN), an intergovernmental committee involving
all of the Council of Europe�s member states.
For further information, please contact the Minorities Unit; Human
Rights Directorate, Council of Europe: tel.: +33 (0)3 88 41 29 63;
fax: +33 (0)3 88 41 27 93.
-----------------------------
Dr Fernand de Varennes, Director
Asia-Pacific Centre for Human Rights and
the Prevention of Ethnic Conflict
School of Law - Murdoch University
Murdoch, Western Australia 6150
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: 61 8 9360 6510
Fax: 61 8 9310 6671
email: [email protected]
http://wwwlaw.murdoch.edu.au/apchr
--
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe
Submissions: [email protected]
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected]
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================