EU – Baltic States, Modern EU, Society

 Present meeting with religious leaders is the 12^th in the series of annual meetings since the Commission launched its first one 2005. The dialogue with churches, religions, philosophical and non-confessional organisations has been enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty (art. 17 TEU in effect since 2009).

On 7 June 2016, the Commission adopted an Integration Action Plan of Third-Country Nationals outlining a set of actions ranging from education, employment and access to services to non-discrimination and social inclusion. The Commission puts a particular emphasis on promoting inclusive education and European common values as well as reaching out to young people.

The Commission has taken a number of steps to implement the Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education, adopted on 17 March 2015.

In 2016, the Erasmus+ programme made more than €400 million available to transnational partnerships to develop innovative policy approaches and practices at grass-roots level. Under the Europe for Citizens Programme 2014-20, the Commission co-finances projects raising awareness of EU values, notably tolerance, mutual respect and promoting civil society engagement.

The Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-20 supports projects focusing on preventing and combatting racist and xenophobic hatred and intolerance, as well as projects promoting the development of tools and practices to prevent, monitor and combat online hate speech, including through the development of positive counter-narratives.

Migration, integration and European values

The discussions ranged from the challenges posed by populism and intolerance to the vital role of education and grassroots outreach in improving integration and social cohesion in Europe. The leaders agreed to work closely with the Commission to ensure European values are embraced in the context of migration and integration.

The Commission (on behalf of its first Vice-President Frans Timmermans) hosted at the end of November the 12^th annual high-level meeting with religious leaders from across Europe to discuss "Migration, integration and European values".

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said that religious leaders play a pivotal role to spur the integration and participation of all their members in Europe as “full Europeans”, no matter the place of their cradle, no matter their creed. Through these dialogues, the Commission identifies the common fundamental values that are binding the EU citizens, he added.

Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos, who also participated in the event, said that reaching out to all communities, including the different religious ones, was essential for creating and maintaining a cohesive and inclusive society for all. “With the rise of nationalism, xenophobia and extremism, he argued, we must ensure that our society remains welcoming – especially to those fleeing from war and in need of international protection – while preserving its core values and principles”.  

The meeting took place within the framework of the ongoing dialogue with churches, religious, philosophical and non-confessional organisations as enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty (Art 17 TFEU) and followed an annual meeting with philosophical and non-confessional organisations, which took place on 30 June 2016.

Among the meeting’s participants were the following spiritual leaders: Metropolitan of Belgium (Exarch of the Netherlands and Luxemburg); Bishop of Bavaria and Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD); Imam of Drancy (France) and former President of the Conference of Imams of France; Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community in Vienna; Chief Rabbi of Brussels and Permanent Representative to the EU Conference of European Rabbis; Director of the Islamic Community in Penzberg; representative of the Anglican Bishop in Europe; Archbishop of the Church of Sweden; President of the Europe Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Malines-Brussels and First Vice-President of COMECE; President of the Nordic Bishops' Conference; President of the "Comunità religiosa Islamica" in Italy; Metropolitan and Patriarchal Vicar of the Netherlands, Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch; Archbishop of Prešov and Primate of the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church; and the President of the Hindu Forum of Europe.

More on the issue: 

- Article 17 Dialogue with churches, religious communities and philosophical and non-confessional organisations; and

- http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-4002_en.htm, Brussels, 29 november 2016.