The three pillars of dialogue” “

The caricatures that have offended a part of the Moslem world, the liberalization of the services sector, and the new ratifications of the Constitution are among the issues that are arousing attention in the old continent. They are signs, albeit amid a thousand difficulties, that dialogue has resumed on the European identity and on the concrete objectives of the EU, an essential prerequisite for the revival of the integration process. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND RESPECT FOR RELIGIONS. “Rejection of violence, respect for freedom of expression and the dignity of every religion”: these are the three “pillars” for dialogue between cultures and peoples and for “peaceful co-existence”, indicated by FRANCO FRATTINI, Vice-President of the European Commission, and by MOHAMED SHERIF, general secretary of the World Islamic Call Society. The meeting between them took place in Brussels in recent days and permitted “a joint review” of the recent events linked to the publication of the cartoons on Mahomet. “It has to be clearly spelt out – said Frattini – that violence is not justified, not even if it takes the form of burning a flag”, because “this may be the start of protests” that sometimes degenerate into violence. On the other hand, the European Commissioner defended freedom of expression, “which cannot be limited by the law”. A fence-mending tour to various Middle East capitals by Eu external policy chief JAVIER SOLANA began on Sunday 12 February: the objective of the mission is to “give a positive sign” to the governments “but also to the civil society of these countries” in a phase of political and diplomatic tensions between Europe and the Middle East. THE WORDS OF BORRELL AND VAN DER LINDEN. The European Parliament, in turn, meeting in Strasbourg from 13 to 16 February, placed the question “Right to freedom of expression and respect for religious faith” on the order of the day. The question will also be tackled by the Euro-Mediterranean Assembly (EMPA) on 26-27 March. JOSEP BORRELL, President of the European Parliament and current President of EMPA, released a statement in which he strongly deplored “the offence caused to the religious feeling of the Muslim community” and to religious freedom in general. He appealed for “a responsible use of freedom of expression”, which remains however a “bastion” of democracy. Other statements calling for respect for the religious dimension had previously been registered by the executives of the European Commission and Council: at the same time Austrian Chancellor WOLFGANG SCHÜSSEL condemned, on Monday 13 February, the publication in some Iranian papers of a caricature of the Holocaust. The Council of Europe has expressed its view on the question of the cartoons in various interventions. The President of the parliamentary Assembly of the COE, RENÉ VAN DER LINDEN, explained that “the right to freedom of expression and information is fundamental in a democratic society”, but “freedom of thought, of conscience and of religion is equally a fundamental liberty of individuals”. SERVICES DIRECTIVE, SOCIAL EUROPE. The thorny question of the liberalization of the services sector, which represents a significant slice of the EU economy, was debated by Parliament on Tuesday 14 February (and will be voted on Thursday 16). In the course of the day a protest march organized by the CES/ETUC, European Confederation of Trades Unions, wound its way through the streets of Strasbourg, ending up in front of the headquarters of the EP. “The CES/ETUC wants a stronger social Europe – explained the organization’s secretary general, the Englishman JOHN MONKS -, a more effective European social model and certainly not this directive”. The trades unions fear “an excessive liberalization of the sector” and “the erosion of social rights and labour”. CONSTITUTION: RATIFICATION CONCLUDED IN BELGIUM. In recent days the Eu has however registered the resumption of the process of ratifying the European Constitutional Treaty, approved and signed in 2004 and still waiting to come into force. After its rejection by citizens in the referenda held in France and Holland last spring, the process of ratifying the Constitution was put on hold. The new year has led to the approval of a parliamentary resolution that revives the Constitution, to its final ratification by Belgium (the 14th State to give it the thumbs up) and to the start of the parliamentary process leading to its ratification in Estonia. Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström explained that “a strong signal, given by one of the founding countries of the Eu”, has come from Belgium. According to the Swedish Commissioner, “the Constitution represents Europe’s ambition to be more democratic, more transparent, more effective and stronger on the world scene”. The Council of the heads of state and of government to be held in June “will have the task – said Wallström – of reviewing the reflections begun” on the future of European integration, “to permit the Union to better respond to the hopes of citizens”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1451 N.ro relativo : 11 Data pubblicazione : 16/02/2006