On 27 – 31 May, the Advisory Committee held its 83rd plenary in Strasbourg. During the meeting, it adopted its 14th biennial Activity report, covering the period from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2024, which not only provides a detailed overview of the ACFC’s monitoring work during that period but also highlights current trends and challenges for minority protection in Europe. The Activity report will be presented to the Committee of Ministers on 25 September and will become public right after. The Advisory Committee also adopted a revised Thematic Commentary on Education, which replaces the First Thematic Commentary on Education of 2006. This revision examines how the monitoring practice of the ACFC has reflected new developments and trends in the field of education and provides guidance to states parties on fulfilling their obligations under the Framework Convention in relation to education. This revised Thematic Commentary on Education, drafted in consultation with a large range of stakeholders, will be made public in October 2024.

Over the first half of the year, the Advisory Committee has conducted three monitoring visits, starting with a 6th cycle visit to Finland in April 2024. On 24-28 June, a delegation of the ACFC visited Serbia to evaluate progress made in the protection of national minorities in the 5th monitoring cycle. In parallel, a visit to Czechia took place. Moreover, five new Advisory Committee Opinions have been published over the past semester: the 4th cycle Opinions on Latvia and Georgia, the 5th cycle Opinions on Sweden and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the 6th cycle Opinion on Denmark. A monitoring visit to Hungary is already planned in December and there are more visits in the pipeline. The three Opinions adopted at the last plenary meeting of the ACFC in May - the 5th cycle Opinions on Azerbaijan and Bulgaria and the 4th cycle Opinion on Montenegro - will become public in the second semester of 2024.

Follow-up meetings are a regular practice by the Advisory Committee as they provide a unique opportunity to exchange with all relevant stakeholders on the implementation of the Advisory Committee’s recommendations and share good practices. One follow-up meeting was organised with the authorities and representatives of national minorities in Sweden on 19 April. Another will follow in October in the Republic of Moldova.

The situation of women and girls belonging to national minorities has been addressed more systematically by the Advisory Committee in recent years, in line with the objectives of the second Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy (2018-2023). The newly created webpage on the FCNM website provides an overview of the ACFC’s gender-sensitive approach as well as links to two gender analyses of the Advisory Committee’s opinions, covering the periods 2017-2020 and 2021-2024.