European Centre for Minority Issues

The European Centre for Minority Issues ( ECMI European Centre for Minority Issues ) in Flensburg is an independent foundation under civil law. Donors are the state of Schleswig -Holstein, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Denmark.

Organization

ECMI founded in 1996, the governments of Denmark, Germany and Schleswig -Holstein. The Foundation is a non-partisan and interdisciplinary institution. While the running costs of the Centre are financed by the three governments, it shall, in addition to project-related resources to finance its fast-growing tasks. ECMI has a small scientific team of experts, which is supported by a number of visiting scientists and can rely on an extensive network of external experts. The center also maintains active relations with other institutions with similar fields of activity and developed jointly with them projects. ECMI has a nine -member board, composed of three members from Denmark, three from Germany and one representative of the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union. The working language of ECMI is English.

ECMI is headquartered in the historic Kompagnietor in the old town of Flensburg. Here also meetings and conferences are organized. In the building ECMI projects are performed and prepared for publication. Also located in the house a technical library.

Tasks

The European Centre conducts practice- related research, provides information and documentation is available for consultation on the subject of minority issues in Europe. It works with various governments and international organizations, as well as with non-dominant groups in Europe. The center also supports the academic research on the other, the media and the general public through the provision of information and analysis. The early monitoring and examining potential conflicts in all regions of Europe - East and West - provides a focus of the activities of the Centre, whose aim is to contribute to the resolution of ethnic tensions. Overall, it has three key responsibilities: