This Monday, 11 December 2006, Bishop van Luyn, President of COMECE, has sent a contribution of the Member Bishops of COMECE entitled “Common values – the living source of the European project” to the leaders of the EU Institutions.

On Monday 27 November last, the “Comité des Sages” (Committee of Wise Persons) set up by the COMECE bishops, met for the second time at the COMECE Secretariat in Brussels.

This was reaffirmed by the Bishops of the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Community (COMECE) today in a Contribution to the 'Berlin Declaration' on European values and ambitions planned for March 2007. The COMECE bishops adopted the text at their Plenary Assembly, which took place from 22 to 24 November 2006 in Brussels.

The COMECE Seminar planned for Rome in March 2007 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Rome Treaties will be the main focus of the forthcoming COMECE plenary. The plenary meeting will take place from 22-24 November 2006 in Brussels.

Churches and church-related Organisations, such as Caritas and Diaconia, are major providers of social and healthcare services in the European Union.