has drafted thematic commentaries on education and on participation in economic, social and cultural life by minorities that give helpful discussions on good practice in the application of FCNM standards. European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages: The European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages in designed to protect and promote the minority languages which are a threatened part of Europe’s cultural heritage and to enable speakers of those languages to use them in public and in private. The Charter came into force in 1998 and currently has 23 States parties. The Charter includes protection for languages which are “traditionally used within a given territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State’s population; and different from the official language(s) of that State” (article 1 (a)). It excludes languages that are dialects of the official languages of the State and the languages of recent immigrants. In addition to the principles, Part 3 of the Charter contains 68 specific measures on the promotion of regional and minority languages in public life. States must select at least 35 measures to apply to each regional language. This gives States the flexibility to take different measures depending on the situation of each language. States are encouraged to increase the number of measures they take as their legal situation changes or financial resources increase. The specific measures relate to the following areas: education, judicial authorities, administrative authorities and public services, media, cultural activities and facilities, economic and social life and trans-frontier exchanges. A committee of independent experts monitors State implementation of the Charter. States submit reports to the Committee of Experts, which considers them, visits the States and prepares its evaluation including proposals for recommendations. The report is submitted to the Committee of Ministers, which takes the final decision on whether to make the report public and on what recommendations to make to the State. Minority CSOs report that the recommendations made by the Committee of Experts are good. However, there is a lack of knowledge and awareness of the Charter at the national level that impedes implementation of these recommendations. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) ECRI is a statutory body of the Council of Europe providing independent monitoring and evaluation of state practice in the area of combating racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance. It prepares regular country reports on all CoE member States in a 4-5 year cycle. Significantly, the independent experts of ECRI undertake country visits in preparation for the final report, giving a wider scope for engagement with minorities locally. ECRI also adopted several General Policy Recommendations focusing on broad themes and specific communities, including General Policy Recommendation No. 3: Combating racism and intolerance against Roma/Gypsies in 1998 and General Policy Recommendation No. 5 Combating intolerance and discrimination against Muslims in 2000. 12.5.3 European Union (EU) The EU has different minority protection requirements for existing member States and for States wishing to join the EU. In 1993, the EU established a set of criteria that accession States must meet in order to join – the ‘Copenhagen criteria’. These criteria include “respect for and protection of minorities”. In addition, since 1997, for States in the Western Balkans there is another set of membership requirements that include the State’s “credible commitment to democratic reforms and progress in compliance with the generally recognized standards of human and Chapter 12: Regional Issues, Standards and Mechanisms 175