agenda" "

EU legislation” “

In the course of last week the following legislative acts and communications, among others, came into force: Initiative of Austria aimed at the adoption of a regulation of the Council that would fix the criteria for the determination of States definable as safe third States with a view to assuming responsibility for the examination of […]

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press review" "

Dailies and periodicals” “

The Usa-Iraq crisis continues to monopolize the attention of the main international dailies, especially intent on probing the relation between America and Europe, and the diverging attitudes of the two “blocs” to a possible armed intervention in Iraq. “Iraq: Washington will have to wait”, is the front-page headline in Le Monde (28/1), in which it […]

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Spain: 11 February – "Day of the invalid"” “

“Invalids in the parish. A priority”: the theme of the “Day of the invalid 2003”, to be celebrated in Spain and throughout the world on 11 February, epitomizes the attitude that parish communities are called to assume towards the sick. “Nowadays health care is being increasingly organized at the domiciliary level – point out the […]

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England and Wales: the bishops defend the right to asylum” “

“The long and proud English tradition of welcoming those attempting to flee from persecution must be defended, because it says much about the history and values of a people”. So Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue, of the Office for political refugees of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, comments on the ever more frequent attacks on […]

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European Churches" "

France: bishops reject human cloning ” “

The French bishops reject “human cloning” because it involves dangerous “interferences in essential elements of the identity of the future human being” and represents “a grave violation of human dignity”; but above all because “each embryo is already a human being” and cannot be used as “an object in the hands of man”. The point […]

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EU-environment: procedures against 8 members” “

Just when the European Commissioner for the environment, Mrs. Margot Wallstroem, was making known the EU’s environmental priorities for 2003 (implementation of EU environmental legislation for the countries of enlargement, reinforcement of the strategy of sustainable development, prevention of disasters, new policy for chemical products, obligation of Environmental Impact Evaluation – EIE), the Executive opened […]

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The role of the Regions in the EU” “

The debate on the role and functions of the local authorities in the EU decision-making process occupies a central position in the framework of the institutional reform of the European Union. With the aim of giving a voice to local communities, the Treaty of Maastricht of 1992 established the Committee of the Regions, a consultative […]

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EU in brief" "

EU: a new strategy for employment” “

Aiming at quality of employment, and not just quantity of jobs: that’s one of the main objectives indicated in the new European strategy for employment defined by the European Commission. In a communication adopted in recent days, the Commission spelt out three priorities: pursuing the goal of full employment, increasing quality and productivity of work, […]

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Russia: the Orthodox Church opposes an attack on Iraq” “

The Russian Orthodox Church has also added its voice to the chorus of those rejecting a war in Iraq – an opposition that has unanimously brought together in recent days all the Christian Churches and religious communities of Europe and the world (USA included). “The experience of history teaches us that it is very easy […]

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France: the Protestant Churches also reject cloning ” “

After the Catholic Church (see page 13) the Protestant Federation of France has also rejected human cloning, and pressed for its “explicit” prohibition under French law. “Reproductive cloning – declares a document issued by the Federation in recent days – is a negation of what constitutes the identity, dignity and freedom of each human being”. […]

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