Current trends on regulating the rights of the national minorities from the Council of Europe and good practices perspective

The protection of national minorities is fundamental for the mission of the Council of Europe and also a priority for the European states. The issues related to minorities are not part of a rigid normative framework but in constant change - the Resolution no. 1985 (2014) is an example. The paper presents the content of this Resolution that is an accurate description of the international instruments regarding the protection of national minorities. The Resolution refers also to the “good practices“ in this area. The paper analyzes the concrete measures that are recommended for the CoE states that refer basically to: the right to identity; territorial arrangements, prevention of conflicts, the right to education and to speak the mother tongue languages, fight against discrimination. The most challenging aspects of this Resolution are deeply taken into account by this paper, such as the territorial auto-determination and the fiscal autonomy.