The Christian roots” “

The inaugural session of the Convention on the future of Europe, under the presidency of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former President of the French Republic, will be held on 28 February 2002. The work will continue into 2003: “The Convention’s mandate – points out Bernard Seillier, senator for Aveyron, interviewed by Sir Europe – concerns, in particular, four points already indicated by the Nice Declaration on the future of the Union: the role of the national parliaments, the simplification of the EU treaties, the incorporation of the charter of fundamental rights in the treaties, and the more precise delimitation of the respective competencies of the European Union and the member states”. Religious freedom. Seiller, who has been playing an active role in the European institutions for years, also reflects on the problem of the Christian roots of the continent that the Convention is called to take into due account and to foster, after the discussions on the matter that accompanied the formulation of the charter of fundamental rights. “The real question – points out Seiller – is that of religious freedom in the European Union. This question is often posed in the wrong way due to a ‘mistaken sense of laicity'”. He explains: “Respect for religious freedom involves respect for the moral teachings of the religious confessions”, provided they do not threaten the public order or respect for others. The fields to which the French Senator refers are especially those of right to life, education, the defence of the environment, and respect for the person to the moment of death. Defending religious freedom, in his view, also means guaranteeing a form of schooling that is “respectful of Christian values”. Enlargement. The enlargement of Europe to 27 countries will be another of the central questions that the Convention will be called to tackle. In this regard, the Senator points out that “enlargement is an urgent need if Europe is to be enabled to ‘breathe with its two lungs’, as John Paul II has affirmed on various occasions”. Nonetheless, he continues, there’s no lack of obstacles to be overcome and problems to be resolved in this process leading to enlargement. First of all, he explains, “we must remember that the wage and price levels of the future members of the Union are far lower than those of Western Europe”. On the other hand, “a very high number of poor people” is being registered even in the most affluent parts of the continent. “For example, there are over 4 million people in France who are living below the poverty threshold according to the last report of the national Observatory of poverty and exclusion”. Moreover, “enlargement will arouse disquiet about the development of the fiscal regime, since, if it is to be successful, it will require a growth of financial resources (and hence tax revenues)”. Markets. The businesses of Western Europe are already massively present in the markets of Eastern and Central Europe. “Investments at lower costs also correspond to production at lower costs and, hence, represent an incentive to a displacement of industries from the countries of Western to those of Eastern Europe, but – explains Seiller – it remains difficult to predict the global result of the migration of capital and manpower this involves. That will depend on the sectors and branches of the economy”. For example, “in the agricultural sector it is presumable that European farmers, still linked to a type of family-based farming, will suffer from a development that is already having disastrous effects on the peasant-farmer world. This question, which seems to me significant in view of its consequences in terms of civilization, was not raised in a specific way in the debate on enlargement”. In fact, “the basic question is that of the economic model that the European Union will adopt to cope with the huge number of poor people that is growing both in Eastern and in Western Europe”.