WRITTEN QUESTION E-3316/97 by Klaus Lukas (NI) to the Commission (20 October 1997)

Subject: Opinions on the Central and Eastern European states which are candidates for EU accession

The European Council meeting in Copenhagen instructed the Commission to examine the situation of the ethnic minorities within the framework of its opinions on the candidate countries for EU accession. The Commission has managed to produce a document of over 1400 pages without making a single reference to the situation of the ethnic German or German-speaking minorities in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Romania or Lithuania.

Can the Commission draw on the results of its lengthy research and indicate the size and legal status of the German ethnic group in each of the countries in question and describe the measures taken to protect the minorities in each instance (parliamentary representation, local self-government, right to use of mother tongue in official business, own schools, newspapers, electronic media, bilingual signposts, etc.)?

Does it intend to make representations to those candidate countries which are most remiss in their treatment of their German minorities to remedy the situation as soon as possible, as part of its strategy to prepare them for EU membership?

Which PHARE funds has the Commission so far made available to German minorities under its 'Civic Society and Democratization' Programme?

How much money has been made available for other ethnic groups, and what is its provenance?

What practical results has the Programme achieved so far?

What controls have been instituted to monitor the success of this Programme?

Will the Programme continue unchanged? If so, why? If not, why not?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (27 November 1997)

To the Commission, the chief points regarding the situation of German ethnic or language minorities largely emerge from its general description, given in its opinions, of the situation of minorities in the applicant countries. What emerges from that description is that, in general terms and as far as the Commission knows, these minorities, which are relatively small in numerical terms, do not suffer discrimination. In the countries where they are permanently settled they enjoy the same rights, including collective rights, as are enjoyed by other minorities; for example, parliamentary representation in Poland and Romania; governments and local councils for minorities in Hungary and Romania respectively; membership of the Council of Nationalities in the Czech Republic and in the National Council of Minorities in Romania; the right to use German in administrative documents in areas where the German minority exceeds 20%; the right to maintain their cultural identity, language and traditions. The Commission would also point out that, under Council of Europe conventions, the obligation to grant certain rights is confined to cases where the minority in question attains a certain size.

The Commission would point out to the Honourable Member that, though it did not in its opinion explicitly mention the situation of the German minority in all applicant countries, it did refer explicitly to it in the opinions on Poland and Hungary. As part of pre-accession strategy the Commission will continue if necessary its policy of promoting initiatives intended to improve the situation of minorities, including German minorities.

Minority issues are addressed through projects under national Phare programmes in countries of central and eastern Europe in many sectors, including education, legal affairs, health, social protection and employment. In this context, Phare civil society development programmes, which are part of the Phare national programmes in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Lithuania, play a particularly important role in addressing minority issues.

In addition, the Community has established a Phare programme, entitled Lien, worth ECU 10 million a year, which supports NGO projects across central and eastern Europe; a number of Phare-Lien projects address minority issues. Furthermore, the Phare Democracy programme, worth ECU 10 million a year, for the countries of central and eastern Europe, finances a wide range of projects related to minority questions.

The above programmes have raised awareness of the situation of minorities across the region and have contributed, for example, to efforts to provide welfare support, educational material and training in legal rights for the benefit of minorities.

Projects financed under these programmes are subject to rigorous and continuous quality and financial controls. Strict reporting requirements are part of every contract and are formally checked before each payment is made. The impact of projects is monitored and assessment reports are established. The entire Democracy programme has recently been the subject of a thorough evaluation which is to be published shortly. The Commission proposes to maintain the programme in the future, but is considering the introduction of a number of changes, subject to the availability of budgetary credits, following the evaluation of the programme.