Today we received an answer from the President of the European Parliament, Mr Schulz, to the open letter to the Members of the Bureau of the European Parliament on the implementation of Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty which was sent on the 6th of January by the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics.
Read here the answer of the President.
Read here the open letter of the EPPSP.
Sophie in ’t Veld, chair of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics, has sent a letter to the Members of the Bureau of the European Parliament. This letter concerns the poor implementation of Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty. The Bureau consists out of fourteen Members of the European Parliament, who decides on the organisation of the Parliament and its rules. It is therefore the organ within the European Parliament that reviews the dialogue between the European Parliament and (non-) confessional organisations, as laid down in Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty. You can find the letter here.
Sophie in ‘t Veld, Chair and founder of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics, today spoke (on a conference) on the theme of Article 17 of the Treaty of Lisbon. The article states that the EU should consult regularly, through a formal dialogue, with both religious and non-confessional organizations, such as Humanists.
Yet, according to In ‘t Veld, secularist voices are not being heard. “All citizens must feel represented by the EU institutions, in particular the European Parliament. Therefore it is essential that any arrangement for the implementation of Article 17 reflects the full range of beliefs, convictions and life stances held by 500 million European citizens.
However, the current organization of dialogue under Article 17 entails the risk that religious voices in the EU are becoming many times stronger than the secular ones. Not all convictions and beliefs held by European citizens are organized. Therefore, an arrangement that is based exclusively on contacts with formal associations or institutions, by its very nature excludes a large part of the European population and advantages organized religion over secular voices.
Religious groups are simply better organized and therefore more strongly represented in formal dialogues like this”, said In ‘t Veld.
During the meeting, In ‘t Veld again expressed her concerns about the lopsided balance between religious and secular sounds in the current dialogue with the European institutions. “The EU began as a secular project. The EU institutions are not a representation of individual groups or religions, but of all 500 million European citizens together.”
In June 2011, during a meeting organized by the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics, President Buzek promised to organize an equal platform for secular voices. This will be the first dialogue between the EU and non-confessional groups, taking place this fall.
Brussels 14 July 2011
Dear President Buzek,
On behalf of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics, EPPSP, I would like to thank you for your contribution to the debate on the implementation of Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty on June 29th.
By way of this letter I would like to share a few more thoughts with you, that arose from the debate.
We very much subscribe to your remarks about the importance of legitimacy: all citizens must feel represented by the EU institutions, in particular the European Parliament. Therefore it is essential that any arrangement for the implementation of Article 17 reflects the full range of beliefs, convictions and life stances held by 500 million European citizens. However, we are concerned that the current arrangement does not meet that objective.
First of all, not all convictions and beliefs held by European citizens, are organized. Therefore, an arrangement that is based exclusively on contacts with formal associations or institutions, by its very nature excludes a large part of the European population and advantages organized religion over secular voices. We therefore suggest that more thought is given as to how the dialogue foreseen by Article 17 can be made more inclusive and representative, so as to genuinely give a voice to all citizens, not just those who have signed up to an association or community.
We suggest that modern media and communications technologies would enable many more people, in particular young people, to take part. In our view, proposals for the organization of the Dialogue should be prepared by the Presidency and put to the House for approval.
Secondly, although we appreciate the appointment of a Vice President of the Parliament responsible for contacts with religious and non-confessional organizations, we are concerned that secular voices are not sufficiently heard.
We therefore propose a second Vice President be appointed to ensure contacts with secular organizations, both religious and non religious, such as the convictions and life stances represented in the EPPSP. In this context we point out that Vice President Miguel Angel Martinez has closely followed the work of the platform for secularism in Parliament and he would be a suitable candidate.
We hope we can further shape the Dialogue together, and make it fully inclusive and representative.
With kind regards,
Sophie in ‘t Veld
Chair European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics
C.c.
Vice President Laszlo TÖKÉS
Guy VERHOFSTADT, President ALDE Group
Joseph DAUL, President EPP Group
Martin SCHULZ, President S&D Group
Jan ZAHRADIL, President ECR Group
Rebecca HARMS and Daniel COHN-BENDIT, Co-Presidents Greens/EFA Group
Lothar BISKY, President GUE/NGL Group
Nigel FARAGE and Francesco SPERONI, Co-Presidents EFD Group
On 28 June 2011 the EPPSP organized a meeting on the Implemenation of Art 17 in the European Parliament. Contributions were made by President Jerzy Buzek and Vice-President Tökès in charge of the Art 17 Dialogue.
President Buzek, who makes no secret of his strong Christian beliefs, spoke emolliently of “a community of shared values, whatever their source” and, noting the variety of arrangements in Europe for relations between church and state, said that this was a matter for member states, not for the EU authorities. He preferred to talk of the “autonomy” rather than the “separation” of church and state: religions (and non-religious philosophies) and governments should maintain a mutual respect coupled with full freedom to manage their own affairs. As to the Parliament’s implementation of the “Article 17″ dialogue mandated under the Lisbon treaty he had delegated this to his vice-president László Tokés to organise. Meantime a meeting of the three EU presidents – Parliament, Commission and Council – had been held recently with religious representatives and arrangements would be made for a similar meeting with non-religious groups later in the year.
Location: Arlington, United States
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