In: Home > DOSSIER > Respect Diversity. How? With autonomy and political participation - The way to get self-government to save language and cultural diversity, a handout
Language: ENG
Wolfgang Mayr
Bolzano/Bozen, 11. December 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Territorial autonomy - A solution for open ethnic
conflicts?
2. The working autonomies in Europe - Territorial autonomy:
minority protection & conflict solution
3. Europe's Working Regional Autonomies - A Comparative
Analysis
4. Europe's Ethnic Mosaic - A Guide to Minority Rights in
Europe
5. OSCE: 'Participation', 'Representation' and 'Autonomy'
6. Searching Minority Rights/Diversity - Europäische
Akademie Bozen/Südtirol - Eurac Resarch
7. Europe of the Peoples - European Free Alliance
Regional autonomy not only can potentially cater for most of
the needs and interests of national minorities, but its decisive
advantage that it does not clash with the interest of the states
to preserve full integrity of their territory. Regionally
autonomies - there are about 60 within 21 states all over the
world, if counting only systems operating in democratic states
with full rule of law - are established as solutions of
compromise between the claim of self-determination of a smaller
people and the interest of a central state to preserve its
integrity. just a tiny part of the world's operating autonomous
regions can count on such an entrenchment, for instance the
autonomous province of South Tyrol, Italy.
South Tyrol 1 - www.retecivica.bz.it/en/default.asp
South Tyrol 2 -
www.issuu.com/landsuedtirol-provinciabolzano/docs/south-tyrol
Territorial autonomy - A solution for open ethnic conflicts?
www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/autonomy-w.html
Minority ethnic groups are structurally disadvantaged and
often excluded from power. How to redress this implicit bias? Are
anti-discrimination provisions sufficient? How to ensure equal
chances and opportunities for majority and minority
identities?
The working autonomies in Europe - Territorial autonomy as a
means of minority protection and conflict solution - www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/autonomy.html
Autonomies usually are institutional and procedural systems based on complex legal provisions starting from the basic autonomy statute or constitutional law and coming to enactment laws and decrees embracing the legal provisions approved and adapted by the autonomous institutions. Europe's Working Regional Autonomies - A Comparative Analysis: www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/work-autonomy.html
Europe is an ethnic and cultural mosaic, not a melting pot:
regional identities strongly rooted in history, religious
pluralism and a large number of ethnic or national minorities in
almost every country. Distinct from the dominating national
cultures, they wish to preserve their identity, cherish their
traditions, use their languages in all spheres of life. For this
purpose not only recognition is required, but a complete set of
minority rights has to be ensured. In the last decade various
European institutions have paved the way towards the creation of
a common legal space for national minorities. This has been the
reason for the EURAC to elaborate an introduction in ethnic (or
national) minority issues in Europe.
Europe's Ethnic Mosaic - A Short Guide to Minority Rights in
Europe: www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/min-guide.html
States should ensure that opportunities exist for minorities
to have an effective voice at the level of the central
government, including through special arrangements as
necessary:
1) special representation of national minorities, through a
reserved number of seats in one or both chambers of parliament or
in parliamentary committees; and other forms of guaranteed
participation in the legislative process;
2) formal understandings for allocating to members of national
minorities cabinet positions, seats on the supreme or
constitutional court or lower courts, and positions on nominated
advisory bodies or other high-level organs;
3) mechanisms to ensure that minority interests are considered
within relevant ministries, through, e.g., personnel addressing
minority concerns or issuance of standing directives; and special
measures for minority participation in the civil service as well
as the provision of public services in the language of the
national minority.
Where minorities are concentrated territorially, singlemember
districts may provide sufficient minority representation.
1) Proportional representation systems, where a political party's
share in the national vote is reflected in its share of the
legislative seats, may assist in the representation of
minorities.
2) Appropriate local, regional, or autonomous administrations
that correspond to the specific historical and territorial
circumstances of national minorities may undertake a number of
functions in order to respond more effectively to the concerns of
these minorities.
More: www.osce.org/hcnm/32240?download=true
The Institute for Minority Rights pursues basic and applied
research on the protection of minorities and the management of
cultural diversity. It focuses on issues of cohesion and
governance in pluri-ethnic societies, including the new
challenges related to migration into territories inhabited by
minorities.
Europäische Akademie Bozen - Insitut für
Minderheitenrecht:
www.eurac.edu/de/research/autonomies/minrig/Pages/default.aspx
The Institute carries out comparative studies and applied
research on federal, regional and local governmental trends
predominantly, but not exclusively, from a legal perspective.
They investigate the legal tools for coping with the management
of ever more complex governance and decision-making processes in
multi-level systems both within Europe and worldwide. South
Tyrol's well-established, far reaching self-government
arrangement and asymmetrical autonomy within regional Italy and
the location at the border of 'mature' federations, puts the
Institute in a privileged position to observe and analyze.
Institut für Föderalismusforschung:
www.eurac.edu/de/research/autonomies/sfereg/Pages/default.aspx
The principal research focus of the Institute is to promote
sustainable development practices in the residential, business
and recreational spaces of mountain areas. It examines local and
regional conditions to measure the spatial and socio-economic
impact of human activity.
Institut für Regionalentwicklung:
www.eurac.edu/de/research/mountains/regdev/Pages/default.aspx
The European Free Alliance (EFA) works to make the idea of a
"Europe of the Peoples" a political and cultural reality at the
European and international level. It is an umbrella organisation
that gathers 40 progressive nationalist, regionalist and
autonomist parties throughout the European Union (EU),
representing stateless nations, regions, and traditional
minorities in Europe. It focuses its activity on the promotion of
the right of self-determination of peoples, human, civil and
political rights, democracy, internal enlargement, multi-level
governance, devolution of powers, cultural and linguistic
diversity; as well as on nationalism, regionalism, autonomy and
independence. Through its member parties, the European Free
Alliance's scope is spread over 17 EU Member States (MS).
European Free Alliance: www.e-f-a.org
See also in gfbv.it:
www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/autonomy-w.html
| www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/work-autonomy.html
| www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/autonomy-eu.html
| www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/autonomy.html |
www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/europe2004-en.html
in www: www.e-f-a.org | www.osce.org