Abstract
This article intends to examine the different legal and institutional factors that have contributed to the fluidity of the minority protection system in Trentino Alto Adige/South Tyrol, referring to the contribution of the EU, the Council of Europe and constitutional jurisprudence. To do so, it focuses on the main principles governing minority protection. To what extent have these factors succeeded in correcting the rigidities inherent in the Statute of Autonomy? The article analyses the evolution of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU that has redefined some principles of the Statute of Autonomy, the contribution of the Council of Europe and the jurisprudence on census, quotas and membership of linguistic groups, the legal principles guiding the education system and, finally, the influence of the Italian constitutional jurisprudence on the concept of closed farmyard (‘maso chiuso’/‘Der geschlossene Hof’). In the conclusions, the article highlights how openness to the EU and the European context has contributed to the fluidity of the system and protected the prerogatives of new groups that are emerging alongside the three traditional language groups, such as bilingual people and new minorities (immigrants). These developments and the new needs of society must be taken into account in the reform of the new Statute as a new social pact.