This edited volume covers the implementation processes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRM) in various countries as published in 1992 by the Council of Europe. The handbook begins with the editors' introduction, briefly summarizing the ratification history. The editors also provide a description of the book's structure and point out the naturally procedural character of the publication. This is followed by twenty-four national cases, in which the authors give a systematic and detailed overview of the implementation procedure and case evaluations by the committee of experts of the ECRM. The book is clearly structured with chapters dedicated to each of the countries in which the Charter is ratified, except for Bosnia and Herzegovina (because on the date of publication there was no information available). The chapters are divided into four sections: ‘Prehistory’, ‘Implementation’, ‘Assessment’, and ‘Bibliography’. The ‘Prehistory’ of each chapter focuses on the different and special historical background of each nation, primarily relating to the issue of minority languages. The second section, ‘Implementation’, contains a brief timeline of the implementation and a list of responsible national institutions. Furthermore, it briefly describes the minority language setting in each respective country. This information is followed by a detailed description of the implementation process for each language under Parts II and III of the Charter. The ECRM distinguishes between languages in Part II (general provisions) and languages in Part III (promotional measures) of the Charter. Much attention is devoted to the promotion declarations of the countries and the evaluation of the promoted domains by the Committee for each minority language. The ‘Assessment’ sections briefly summarize the situations described before. Each country description is completed with a short list of references.

Most of the authors, unfortunately not all of them, quote the evaluation ratings of the committee for the different measurements in favor of language domains. These domains for languages under Part III of the ECRM are education, legal authorities, administrative bodies and public services, media, cultural activities and institutions, economic and social life, and cross-border exchange. The applied ratings for these domains are fulfilled, mostly fulfilled, partly fulfilled, only formally fulfilled, or not fulfilled. Much attention is devoted to the relationship between the Committee and the national institutions that are responsible for the so-called state reports.

The chapters differ noticeably in size and scope, due to the respective relevance of the Charter in each country. The chapter ‘Liechtenstein’ (Felix Tacke), for example, explains in three pages why the Principality of Liechtenstein does ratify the Charter, although there are no known minority languages there. By contrast, the chapters ‘Spain’ (Felix Tacke) and ‘Germany’ (Claudia Wich-Reif) describe in more than thirty pages the difficult and diverse management of minority languages in these countries.

Although the book does not discuss the general impact or effectiveness of the Charter for minority languages, it does provide an impartial record of the current implementation of the Charter in each country.