The European Minority Rights Regime

The European Minority Rights Regime investigates the cooperation between the EU, OSCE and Council of Europe on minority rights in Europe. It tracks the formation and transformation of this international regime and questions its effectiveness in securing minority rights. The book demonstrates how the three organizations have formalized their linkages and managed their respective mandates in the context of EU enlargement.

At the domestic level, the book focuses on three case studies - Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria -- with an examination of the impact of inter-organizational cooperation on the status of their respective national minorities. Although cooperation has delivered largely positive change for accession countries, challenges remain for minorities in Europe and the regime's future operation.

This book links two key research areas -- international regimes and EU integration -- to determine why ethnic politics remain a source of contention for the European project. Review: 'Galbreath and McEvoy offer a very insightful analysis of the European minority rights regime. Theoretically well-grounded and empirically substantiated at impressive levels of detail, this is a significant contribution to our understanding of the impact of international regimes in general and the dynamics of minority rights protection in Europe in particular.' - Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK