Paper Titles & Abstracts

With the inception of EU citizenship, the political rights of EU citizens have acquired strong symbolic and practical significance. However, EU law contains no minority right to political participation in EU law-making in matters which may affect their identity. The political rights of minorities, exercised through the participation in electoral processes, are crucial to enable them to express their views in regards to legislative measures and public policies affecting them. With the expansion of EU competences which have an impact on minorities in Member States, it is increasingly important to have specific provisions in EU law which guarantee effective political participation of minorities at the EU level, particularly where a State excludes a minority from political participation through restrictive citizenship laws, as in some post-Communist countries, such as Latvia. This paper assesses the EU's response to equal access of minorities to political participation since the 2004 and 2007 accession. The paper then 'tests' EU rules, such as the Directive on equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, the Directive concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents, and the general principles of EU law to ascertain whether the EU could deal more effectively with the exclusion of some minorities from political participation in Member States and the EU as a whole.