Category Archives: EU External Affairs


The EU started to develop a Common Foreign and Security Policy with the Maastricht Treaty (1992). Moreover, in recent years, the EU intensified efforts to promote Human Rights outside its borders and it has played a major role in International Trade and Development Aid.
EU Enlargement continues to be an important pillar of EU’s External Policy. Since 2004 a specific Neighborhood Policy was elaborated to establish good relations with neighboring countries.
In the hope that a united Europe can take a stronger role on the world stage, COMECE together with Justice and Peace Europe aims to assist the EU in its vocation to promote global peace and assume its responsibility for supporting sustainable development and social justice across the world. COMECE is assisted in this mission by a Commission on the External Relations of the European Union.
EU External Affairs, Justice & Fundamental Rights, Migration & Asylum, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

COMECE Presidency in Metz for Pope Leo XIV’s address on Europe’s roots and future

The COMECE Presidency, led by its President, H.E. Mgr Mariano Crociata, was in Metz on Monday, 28 September 2026, on the occasion of Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Journey to France. Video | Pope’s speech | Card. Aveline’s speech In this historic city at the heart of Europe, in a region marked by suffering and reconciliation and closely associated with Robert Schuman, one of the founding … Continue reading »

Education & Culture, EU External Affairs, International Religious Freedom, Migration & Asylum, Policy Areas, Press, Youth policies

News

Young Europeans gather in Belgium for the third edition of the European Summer School

The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), in collaboration with the University Francisco de Vitoria (UFV) and the Institute for the Global Common Good (IBCG), successfully concluded the third edition of the European Summer School, held from 29 June to 3 July 2026 at the historic Oude Abdij Drongen, near Ghent, Belgium. Photo Gallery Under the theme ‘Rebirth or Irrelevance: Europe’s … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Justice & Fundamental Rights, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

🇪🇺🇨🇮 Irish EU Presidency | European Churches meet with Prime Minister Micheál Martin

A delegation from the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC) met Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Dublin on Thursday, 9 July 2026, in the context of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Download the COMECE-CEC Joint Contribution [EN]  The delegation was led by H.E. Mgr. Mariano Crociata, Bishop of Latina, President … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

DOCUMENT | COMECE publishes contribution to the future European Security Strategy

The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) today, Thursday, 2 July 2026, publishes its contribution entitled “A European Security Strategy at the service of peace”, as the European Union prepares its new Security Strategy. Download the Contribution Drawing on the Catholic Church’s social teaching and the European Union’s founding vocation as a project of peace, the document offers reflections on the … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

News

🇪🇺🇺🇦 Ukrainian Church leaders visit COMECE to discuss peace and Ukraine’s European future

The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) welcomed a high-level delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations (UCCRO) to its Secretariat in Brussels on Tuesday, 23 June 2026. The meeting provided a valuable opportunity to listen to the testimonies of Church leaders representing the diverse religious communities of Ukraine and to reaffirm COMECE’s unwavering solidarity with Ukraine and … Continue reading »