European Parliament
1 December 2011
President Buzek invited the non-confessional organisations to a meeting in the European Parliament on 30 November 2011 to discuss its implementation of the Article 17 dialogue. This took place after the Article 17 “summit” with the three EU Presidents, reported here. Unfortunately the President was unable to attend until the last minute or two (he had to preside at a plenary session of the Parliament which also drew away for much of the time the… read more »
The third annual “summit” meeting of “philosophical and non-confessional” organisations with the three EU Presidents under Article 17 was held on November 30. The press conference: Presidents Buzek, Barroso and van Rompuy. David Pollock is between the first two; Pierre Galand at the extreme right. David Pollock took advantage of it to expose the dissatisfaction of the humanist and secularist movement with the way the Commission is implementing the dialogue under Article 17. The EHF… read more »
[Français] [Deutsch] [Italiano] On the occasion of the World Aids Day, 1 December 2011, the European Parliament adopted a resolution about the EU’s work to fight against AIDS in the European Union and its neighbouring countries. This resolution defines the position of all political groups in the EP. The text underlines the necessity of strengthening EU and member states’ action to fight against HIV, by increasing access to exhaustive information, testing and efficient protection and… read more »
15 August 2011
At the IHEU Congress in Oslo in August 2011 two people with EHF connections were honoured with awards. Sophie in’t Veld MEP, the founder and chair of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics, was given the 2011 International Humanist Award. IHEU president Sonja Eggerickx said: The award goes to a Parliamentarian who works tirelessly for the cause of secularism in Europe. A medievalist by training, a linguist with six languages to call on,… read more »
2 March 2011
The chair of the European Parliamentary Platform for Secularism in Politics, Sophie in’t Veld MEP, has written to the President of the Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, to protest at his invitation to the Pope to address a plenary session of the Parliament. She makes the point of her complaint that “It is wholly inappropriate for plenary meetings to be used as a podium for religious messages”, drawing a distinction between plenary sessions of the Parliament and the… read more »
1 February 2011
Meeting of the EP Platform for Secularism in Politics At the meeting of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics on 1 February 2011 there were two speakers on the subject of religion, Fundamental Rights and the draft anti-discrimination Directive. Introducing the discussion, Sophie in’t Veld said that in 2001 the EU had approved a directive against employment-related discrimination related to religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (the “strands” of sex and racial or… read more »
17 January 2011
EHF and the European Union Most countries in Europe are members of the European Union and its decisions are increasingly important in our lives. The EHF is uniquely placed to represent humanists and secularists in its institutions and we give this work a high priority. Opposing Special Rights for Churches in the EU Under the controversial Article 17* of the Treaty on the Functoning of the European Union as amended by the Lisbon Treaty of… read more »
25 October 2010
On October 15 2010 President Barroso called the first top-level meeting under “Article 17″ between representatives of so-called “philosophical and non-confessional organisations” and the EU presidents – Messrs José Manuel Barroso (of the Commission), Herman van Rompuy (of the Council) and Jerzy Buzek (of the Parliament). EHF was represented by its President, David Pollock, and one of its vice-presidents, Pierre Galand. The meeting was on the EU’s theme for 2010 – poverty and social exclusion…. read more »
17 March 2010
The wording says: ‘Abortion for Polish women – introduced by Hitler – 9 March 1943′ Meeting of the EP Platform for Secularism in Politics The European Parliamentary Platform for Secularism in Politics held a well attended meeting on 17 March 2010 to hear speakers on the influence of the church in matters of abortion, divorce, family planning etc, with speakers from Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain.Monika Karbowska told the meeting about the dire situation for… read more »
29 January 2010
The EHF has organised its first major lobby of the European Parliament. The complex organisation of the meetings was undertaken for us by the international unit of the Centre d’Action LaIque in Brussels. Ten people from ten EHF member organisations in seven countries spent Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 January at the Parliament and had meetings with 15 MEPs and the assistants to two others. The MEPs came from ten countries and four political groups…. read more »