Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-05-Speech-1-123"
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"en.20050905.20.1-123"2
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"Madam President, I am afraid that Mr Barrot's statement has not reassured me at all. Yes, freedom of religion is a fundamental right in the European Union, but separation of Church and State is one of the basic principles underpinning our modern society. In your country, Mr Barrot, the principle of
is one of the cornerstones of the Republic. I would also remind you that this principle is strongly emphasised in the debate on Islam currently taking place in most Member States. We should not apply double standards, but apply the same standards to ourselves.
Religious and non-denominational organisations are an important voice in society and it is therefore fitting that the EU should have a dialogue with these organisations. However, such a dialogue should fulfil the regular criteria of transparency that apply to all activities of the EU institutions. Frankly, closed meetings with organisations hand-picked by President Barroso are neither transparent nor balanced.
The dialogue with churches must be transparent, as has been pointed out by several colleagues. The agenda and the minutes should be published on the internet. The meetings should take place in public, there should be an established list of participants and that list should be balanced with regard to the participating organisations.
The dialogue should be organised on an equal footing with the dialogue with the rest of civil society, and I would prefer it to be an integral part of that dialogue. Can the European Commission guarantee that it will uphold these principles? If it cannot, can it tell us what its criteria are for this dialogue and can it give them to us in writing?
Finally, in reply to a Parliamentary question, President Barroso had agreed to organise the dialogue in the spirit of the EU Constitution, even if it is not in force yet. Despite his pledge, and in contrast to his predecessor Mr Prodi, he has called a number of meetings excluding the humanists – you made reference to it yourself Mr Barrot, and you do not seem to think it is a problem; well, I think it is. He has been reported to have had several meetings with representatives of the Catholic Church and, notably, the Vatican, thus granting a preferred status to one particular religion. I am afraid that your explanation is not satisfactory."@en1
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"laïcité"1
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