GROSARU v. ROMANIA JUDGMENT 11 Other systems, while not necessarily guaranteeing the presence of members of national minorities in the elected bodies, facilitate the representation of minority organisations. In Germany and Poland, threshold rules do not apply to such organisations. The Belgian system is specific. The body of institutions is conceived in such a way as to establish a balance between the different linguistic groups (rather than between minorities in the strict sense). Moreover, in certain areas which are mixed from a linguistic point of view, adjustments have been made so that electors from different linguistic communities are represented in the elected body. In most cases, however, the representation of minorities in an elected body is achieved through the application of the ordinary rules of electoral law, which treat people belonging to national minorities and others in the same way. C. Lund recommendations on the effective participation of national minorities in public life 25. The Lund recommendations were adopted in Lund (Sweden) in September 1999 by a group of international experts under the aegis of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The relevant parts of those recommendations read as follows: B. Elections “(7) Experience in Europe and elsewhere demonstrates the importance of the electoral process for facilitating the participation of minorities in the political sphere. States shall guarantee the right of persons belonging to national minorities to take part in the conduct of public affairs, including through the rights to vote and stand for office without discrimination. (8) The regulation of the grouping and activity of political parties shall comply with the international law principle of freedom of association. This principle includes the freedom to establish political parties based on communal identities as well as those not identified exclusively with the interests of a specific community. (9) The electoral system should facilitate minority representation and influence. – Where minorities are concentrated territorially, single-member districts may provide sufficient minority representation. – Proportional representation systems, where a political party’s share in the national vote is reflected in its share of the legislative seats, may assist in the representation of minorities. – Some forms of preference voting, where voters rank candidates in order of choice, may facilitate minority representation and promote inter-communal cooperation.