Major themes

Now that the “dialogue” between European institution and the Churches has been codified in the Treaty of Lisbon (due to come into force next December 1st, ed.’s note) “it’s a matter of knowing how to conduct the dialogue and for which objectives”, declared the bishop of Rotterdam Msgr. Adrianus van Luyn, President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), in the opening address of the autumn plenary meeting on November 18 (ongoing until November 20).Art. 17 of the Lisbon Treaty. In recalling COMECE’s contribution in supplementing the “defensive clause” on dialogue of the Amsterdam Treaty with “a clause on dialogue with positive wording”, now to be found in the third paragraph of Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty, Msgr. Van Luyn underlined the importance of knowing “what topics we should be discussing with the European Union”. Our mission as members of COMECE “is not to be safeguarding our privileges in the European policy area”. Instead, it is to try to incorporate productively into the political process” the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Openness” is needed for the “current and pressing political issues, and our readiness to grapple with them competently and comprehensively”. There are “three concrete themes of current EU politics”, the COMECE President declared. These are “the Copenhagen Summit, the Renegotiation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Initiatives for a sustainable social market economy. The UN Conference on Climate Change. Last week’s APEC meeting (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) made clear that “there will be no consensus in Copenhagen on a protocol to succeed Kyoto”, Msgr. Van Luyn remarked. It should however be possible “to reach a political agreement on clear goals”. The COMECE President recalled the EU’s unilateral goal of bringing down its emissions by 20 % by 2020, and reaffirmed the needed commitment of USA, Japan and China to this regard, highlighting that the European Council agreed on key aspects of the European negotiating position for the upcoming UN summit on climate change, notably that “any future climate deal must contain a comprehensive financial agreement”. “Helping emerging countries overcome the climate change wrought to a considerable extent by industrialized nations does not amount to alms for the poor”, he said, “but rather a requirement of justice. The success of the Copenhagen Agreement depends on the recognition of this simple truth”. The prelate retraced the commitments that the COMECE Secretariat implemented over the past year in the framework of dialogue with EU institutions. The Non-Proliferation Treaty. In view of the renegotiation of the Treaty (May 2010) the COMECE president underlined “two windows of opportunity”, namely, the US ‘zero option’ launched past April and “the German Government’s decision” to remove tactical nuclear weapons from German soil, “which could create the opportunity for drawing closer to a world without nuclear weapons”. Msgr. Van Lyun highlighted the Holy See’s commitment for the success of the negotiations and underlined that not only Germany “but also Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands are involved”. “Yet the question arises as to whether churches in Europe, and specifically COMECE, ought not also to be active in supporting the EU on this initiative”. To this regard Paul Lansu, adviser of Pax Christi International, will be preparing a proposal to this regard. As relates to the ongoing crisis in the economy, the COMECE president said that “its deeper cause” is “a distorted image of humanity”, the concept of the human as a “homo economicus” intent only on benefit maximisation and the assertion of individual entitlements” has “over the last few decades, very often determined the political direction in Europe”. Msgr. Van Luyn conveyed words of appreciation for “noteworthy initiatives, which challenge the prevailing standards for benchmarking economic performance and social progress”.Initiatives for a sustainable social market economy. Msgr. Van Luyn recalled the encyclical “Caritas in Veritate”, the Christian concepts of man and society founded on “the protection of human life from the moment of conception to its natural termination”, on the “distinction between man and woman”, alternating between work and leisure, between everyday life and holidays, including Sundays. With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, the Comece President declared, “the European Union has undertaken to create a sustainable social market economy in Europe. Over the coming months, the European Institutions will be deliberating on a new ten-year strategy for economic and social development, set to supersede the Lisbon Strategy”. A European Council decision on this matter is planned for the EU Summit to be held in Madrid in March 2010. “In the meantime, there is a proposal on the table that the COMECE Secretariat should organise a dialogue with representatives of the Parliament and the Commission on the image of humanity and society underlying this new strategy”. “It would also be desirable for the Bishops’ Conferences to seek to make similar contacts in the Member States during the run-up to the Madrid Summit”, he concluded.