Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, has spoken out in favour of EU enlargement to the states of Central and Eastern Europe, in spite of the EU’s current crisis. Lehmann’s comments were made during an interview with the German Catholic press agency KNA on 16 June. Commenting on the negative results of the referenda for the ratification of the European Constitution in France and in Holland, Lehmann emphasized that many citizens “voted ‘no’ for reasons of domestic policy rather than of European policy”. Nonetheless he recognizes that “the referenda show that people want to be better informed and participate to a greater degree in the developments and consequences of European policy”: needs which “politicians, in previous years, have not sufficiently addressed”. According to Cardinal Lehmann, “it is now essential to find solutions to such problems as the protection of fundamental rights, and the functional capacity of an enlarged European Union”. He identified the need for the political world to take on board citizens’ concerns in a more coherent way, and more particularly the need “for a new culture of subsidiarity in Europe”. As for the process of enlargement, the president of the Bishops’ Conferences echoed the declarations of John Paul II and called EU enlargement to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe “the right path” to take. As for Turkey’s bid for EU accession, Lehmann observed: “So long as Turkey does not observe the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, no agreement can be reached on Turkey’s entry”. Turkey, said the cardinal, is a country that “still needs to make some efforts in the field of the concrete recognition of freedom of religion” and of the “clear separation” between “religion and politics, State and religious community”.
