Churches’ delegations meet with Finnish EU Presidency (30 june 2006)

CHURCH DELEGATION FINDS DIALOGUE AND A CERTAIN PRAGMATISM ARE KEY CONCEPTS FOR THE FINNISH EU PRESIDENCY

There is not likely to be much progress with regard to the Constitutional Treaty during the Finnish Presidency. But the EU needs to respond more efficiently to global challenges. This is what the people of Europe as well as countries outside the European Union expect. These were some of the thoughts of the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja, upon receiving a joint delegation of representatives from the churches in Finland, the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) last Friday. (*)

In response to the presentation of the document “Churches in Finland and the Finnish EU-presidency 2006”, by Archbishop Jukka Paarma (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland), the Foreign Minister as well as civil servants from other Finnish ministries thanked the churches for their support and stressed the importance of an inter-cultural as well as inner-cultural dialogue. “It is important that we, together as churches, religious communities and as governments, address factors that cause confrontation and discrimination,” Ms Kirsti Westphalen, Counsellor at the Foreign Ministry stated. The Finnish EU Presidency presented itself open to a broad dialogue with churches, religious communities and civil society.

Other issues raised by the churches in the meeting included: the future of the EU enlargement process, the social dimension, issues related to migration and the establishment of an EU Fundamental Rights Agency by January 2007.

With regard to the EU enlargement process the Foreign Minister Tuomioja re-affirmed that the discussion about the absorption capacity of the EU does not mean to add additional criteria for potential accession countries: “The door must remain open for all who fulfil the existing criteria.”

Asked about the social dimension, the Foreign Minister emphasized that the Finnish EU Presidency is committed to pursue the Lisbon agenda, but not without a social component: “We do not need to look outside Europe to find good models for competitiveness. The Nordic countries with their strong social commitment are among the best in implementing the Lisbon agenda.”

In terms of migration policy, the representatives of the churches and the Finnish Presidency agreed that the well-being of people and migrants, and not economic interests, have to remain at the centre of any policies. “Churches are an important player in maintaining pressure on governments when it comes to developing a comprehensive and efficient asylum system, to shaping just return policies and to challenging governments to meet the Millennium Development Goals,” stated Rev. Rüdiger Noll, Director of the Church and Society Commission of CEC.

The Finnish government representatives welcomed continuous dialogue with the churches, especially throughout the EU Presidency.

Members of the churches’ delegation were: Archbishop Jukka Paarma, Rev. Risto Cantell, Rev. Gunnar Grönblom, Ms Lena Kumlin (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland), Metropolitan Ambrosius (Orthodox Church of Finland), Rev. Jan Edström (Finnish Ecumenical Council), Bishop William Kenney and Monsignor Noel Treanor (COMECE), Rev. Rüdiger Noll (CEC).

The Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs was accompanied by high-ranking civil servants from his own ministry as well as from the ministries of Education and Labour.

(Fonte: Conference of European Churches (CEC) Press release, 3 July 2006)

(*) La notizia sul sito della COMECE