20 December 2008
The EHF has written to the EU Commission about “alarming signs that the European Union is sliding without acknowledgement from neutral dialogue with religions and non-confessional organisations into clear support for religion combined with continuing refusal to give equal access to non-confessional organisations such as ourselves”. The most recent is heavy EU participation in a Christian rally in Brussels over the New Year.
The EHF wrote on 20 December 2008 to Jorge César das Neves, our contact in the Commission President’s policy advisory unit (BEPA – the Bureau of European Policy Advisors) to point out the extent to which the EU was aligning itself with the churches and religion in general. We quoted as instances our exclusion from the annual May meetings with the presidents of the Commission, Council and Parliament, two recent meetings of the French presidency… read more »
2 December 2008
The EHF has sent a second letter within a week to Nicolas Sarkozy as current president of the EU Council. This time it is to protest about an EU colloquium to which each member state is asked to send a Government official plus onoe priest, one rabbi and one imam. The letter protests against this dangerous breach of the EU’s neutrality on matters or religion and belief and asks for assurances that it will not… read more »
The EHF sent a further protest on 2 December 2008 to President Sarkozy of France in his capacity as president of the Council of the European Union. The letter arose from an invitation the French Presidency has issued to all member states of the EU to a colloquium on “Religions and Public Authorities in the EU”. Member states are being asked to send a delegation on a set model, made up of a government official responsible for… read more »