Laeken, and after…” “

“The future of the European Union: Laeken and after…”: that’s the theme of the seminar held in the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels on 30 October. Organized by the Group of Political Advisers of the President of the European Commission (GOPA) in collaboration with the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (KEK) and the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), the seminar was attended by almost fifty experts and church observers from all over Europe. The discussions were jointly moderated by Keith Jenkins, director of the Church and Society Commission of KEK, and by Msgr. Noël Treanor, Secretary General of COMECE. Introducing the discussion, the ambassador Michael Weninger, GOPA member and responsible for dialogue with the Churches, religions and humanism, emphasized the meeting’s importance: the “ first round table on the question of the future of the EU and the promotion of dialogue with the contribution of the Churches“. Listening to citizens. The director of GOPA, Ricardo Franco Levi, reviewed the debate that developed following the Nice Treaty last February. In his view, “ the exercise of redefining Community rules cannot be conducted without the voice of citizens being heard. The Churches and the religious communities – Levi continued – have a very important contribution to offer, in spite of the reluctance of many member States to assign a formal role to religion within the Convention which will be commissioned to draw up the agenda of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) of 2004“. In the course of the session dedicated to citizens’ expectations on institutional reforms, Sylvie Goulard, French diplomat and member of GOPA, spoke of the role of the Churches: they are called – she said – “ not to make propaganda but to stimulate the interest of citizens to participate in the European debate and to ask their rulers for clarity regarding the goals of the European project“. Rediscovering shared values. In the view of François Scheer, former French ambassador to Germany and currently President of the Science and Society Commission of the French Protestant Federation, the disenchantment of public opinion with Europe derives from the fact that “ citizens don’t know what the objective and goals of the European project are. They don’t know where they are going, and, what is more, the issues currently being discussed do not arouse their enthusiasm“. According to Scheer, responsibility for this must be shared by governments, national parliaments, European institutions and the media: “ the Union is above all a community of values, so that Europeans must first of all rediscover their shared values: only then can they rediscover Europe“. In relation to the question of the central themes of the Laeken Summit to be held in December, Father Pierre de Charantenay, director of OCIPE (“Office Catholique d’Information et d’Initiative pour l’Europe”), expressed the hope that the work of the European Council would be inspired by the values of solidarity, justice and peace: “ The Laeken Declaration – he pointed out – must be short and easy to read, so that citizens can absorb it. The member States must make efforts in this direction, since communication and information are in the first place the responsibility of governments“. Gian Andrea Garancini – Brussels