of a national minority (Art. II-21), and member states must respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity (Art. II-22) and protect the rights of respect for private life (Art. II-7), freedom of religion (Art. II-10), freedom of expression (Art. II-11) and freedom of association (Art. II-12). Each of these protects various elements of the rights of persons belonging to minorities. It must also be noted that the new EU Constitution includes respect for minorities as a foundational value of the EU. PART I The work of the UN Working Group on Minorities over the last nine years has helped identify some best practices globally. It may be concluded that the existing international normative framework, which has steadily evolved, especially in Europe, during the last decade, provides relatively clear guiding principles for the full implementation of these standards via inter alia domestic mechanisms for human rights protection, e.g. the specialized minority ombudsperson. The ombudsman should give proposals for new legislation or legislative amendments. According to the legislation of many European states, the ombudsperson institution is entitled to make proposals for improving legislation and regulations. The specialized minority ombudsperson should play a role in legislative and regulatory reforms and proprio motu make proposals with a view to assisting in the process of drafting new legislation. This is of particular importance since the international standards for the protection of minority rights have only recently been developed and in some instances governmental authorities may not be aware of minority rights issues. Indeed, the CoE Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM), which entered into force in 1998, is the first ever legally binding multilateral instrument devoted to the protection of national minorities. The vast majority of European states have signed up to the Framework Convention. It is important to note that the FCNM is also open to non-Council of Europe states. The FCNM is not a directly applicable international instrument; therefore its respective provisions may not be invoked before the domestic courts. For the proper implementation of the Framework Convention it is instead necessary that member states adopt the requisite national legislation and appropriate governmental policies. At present, it may be noted that very many countries have adopted legislation on national minorities. Some have single framework legislation on minorities; others are still in the process of drafting minority legislation. In many countries different minority-related issues are regulated by issuing specific thematic legislation instead of having a general law on minorities. For example states have either a particular law on minority education or specific minority-related provisions in general education laws. In addition, even if a country adopts a single framework law on minorities, it proves necessary to have specific provisions in other applicable legislation (media, elections, etc.). Whatever legislative technique respective countries choose, it is important to enact legislation which incorporates relevant international standards protecting minority rights to choice of identity, language use, education, public participation, and access to citizenship and the media. 28