Der Europäische Minderheitenbegriff Entwicklung und wirkung. Teil 1

various declarations by the UNESCO as well as several documents by the CSCE and later OSCE. However, the only international document within the frame of the UN, the UNESCO and the CSCE/OSCE, offering a (non-binding) definition of the term “minority”, is a UN study conducted by Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Francesco Capotorti. According to that study, which was published in 1979, the term “minority” denotes a group numerically inferior to the rest of a state’s population, in a non-dominant position, whose members are nationals of the state of residence and possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from the rest of the population and showing a certain sense of solidarity towards the group itself. In the second part of the essay, it will be shown that the European states took these documents as basis to create their own concept of minorities, which can be deduced from documents of the Council of Europe and the EC/EU.

Europoje neegzistuoja visuotinai pripažįstamos mažumų koncepcijos. Šio tyrimo pirmoje dalyje analizuojama mažumų koncepcijos formavimo JT, UNESCO ir ESBO dokumentuose raida. Antroje šio tyrimo dalyje (ji bus spausdinama kitame šio leidinio numeryje) bus analizuojami specifiniai mažumų koncepcijos kriterijai, kurie buvo suformuoti su mažumų teisių apsauga susijusiuose Europos Tarybos ir Europos Sąjungos dokumentuose ir kuriuos mažumų grupės Europoje turi atitikti, kad galėtų naudotis minėtų teisės aktų teikiama apsauga.