The Minority Council consists of representatives of the umbrella organisations of the Danish minority, the Frisian ethnic group, the German Sinti and Roma and the Lusatian Sorbs. It deals with fundamental issues of the four minorities and advocates for their promotion and protection. The Minority Council also represents the common interests of the four minorities vis-à-vis the Federal Government, the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
In addition to coordination between the minorities and joint statements on current priority issues,the Minority Council focuses on the following tasks and topics:
The presidents, and two other delegates each, of the following umbrella organisations of the four autochthonous national minorities and ethnic groups of Germany are members of the Minority Council:
The chairmanship of the Minority Council is arranged according to the principle of rotation, whereby each minority organisation provides a chair for a period of one year. The current chair of the Minority Council is Dawid Statnik, Chair of Domowina – Federation of Lusatian Sorbs (Bund Lausitzer Sorben e.V.). Regular meetings of the Minority Council take place at least twice each year.
The Minority Secretariat in Berlin supports the work of the Minority Council both in content and organisation.