Conference Paper

In accordance with the Copenhagen Criteria EU membership requires the candidate country to achieve a certain level in minority protection, but up until now there has been no definite answer as to what actually constitutes this rule in practice. For the first time, Serbia was expected to adopt a specific framework document, the so-called Action Plan for the Exercise of the Rights of National Minorities in order to open negotiations on Chapter 23 of its EU integration negotiations. Whether or not this precondition, determined by the EU means that successful accession is conditioned by respect for national minority rights in candidate member states in the future. In the case of Macedonia constant pre-accession monitoring has been carried out and reported in the country’s progress reports. Although Serbia and Macedonia occupy different stages in the EU integration process, both contain in their national minority policy sensitive issues that are very similar in their nature. The paper provides a short overview of the (non)-existing EU standards in national minority protection in general, and analyses the most relevant aspects of this issue from the perspective of Serbia and Macedonia.