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, Migration & Asylum, Policy Areas, Press

News

COMECE meets with EU Commissioner Várhelyi: “the Mediterranean as a place of peaceful encounters”

A COMECE delegation met with Mr. Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, on Monday 18 January 2021, to offer policy recommendations on a people-centred and fair future Southern Partnership. The document presented to the EU Commissioner was elaborated by COMECE in dialogue with local Church authorities. Last year, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Union for the Mediterranean, the EU … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

NEWS

Future EU-Africa partnership: Local communities play a key role in building resilience and human security

“The human dimension could still be further strengthened in the actions put forward by the European Union in its partnership with Africa, on peace and security in particular”, stated Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of COMECE, on the occasion of the Webinar on the role of local communities in fostering human security and resilience in the future EU-Africa partnership, held on Thursday 15 October 2020. The report is available here. In view … Continue reading »

Ecology & Sustainability, EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

NEWS

COMECE calls for a people-centred, sustainable and multilateral EU Arctic policy

COMECE contributed to the EU public consultation  on the future EU Arctic policy, highlighting the EU’s responsibility to ensure a sustainable and peaceful  Arctic  that puts its  people at the cemtre. The contribution was jointly elaborated with Justice & Peace Europe in dialogue with regional Church actors. In the context of the current developments impacting the Artic region, the European Union is reviewing its 2016 policy … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

Nagorno-Karabakh, EU Bishops appeal for intensifying multilateral peace efforts

COMECE calls on the European Union to actively engage for peace in the Nagorno Karabakh region and provide concrete assistance to communities affected by recent flare-up of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Since the end of September 2020, the Nagorno Karabakh has been repeatedly experiencing renewed waves of violence, leading to the loss of lives of many civilians and to the destruction of homes, basic infrustructures and … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

NEWS

COMECE EU External Relations Commission – Which priorities for the [post-]COVID-19 EU External Action?

The COMECE Commission on the EU External Relations gathered online on 29 September 2020 to discuss the most pressing issues for EU’s Foreign and Security Policy. In dialogue with EU and Church representatives, the Commission highlighted the important role the EU could play in leading global efforts for reinvigorating multilateralism. Under the chairmanship of H.E. Mgr. Rimantas Norvila (Lithuania), the experts delegated by the Bishops’ … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

Invitation

Event on the Future EU-Africa partnership: What is the role of local communities in fostering human security and resilience?

COMECE and its partners invite you to participate in the webinar “Fostering human security and resilience in the future EU-Africa partnership – The role of local communities” on Thursday 15 October 2020 at 11h00 CEST. The event is organised as a faith-based contribution to a future fair and people-centered partnership between the EU and the African Union. Policy-makers, Church representatives and stakeholders from the EU … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

Beirut explosion, Cardinal Hollerich expresses COMECE’s solidarity with the Lebanese people

On behalf of all Bishops of the European Union, H.Em. Card. Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, President of COMECE, reacted to the deadly explosion occurred yesterday, Tuesday 4 August 2020, in the port of the capital city of Lebanon. Read the full statement. “I share the shock and the sadness of the people of Beirut following the horrific and deadly explosions that occurred yesterday, Tuesday 4 August … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

NEWS

Corporate abuses: Bishops demand binding due diligence legislation

The President of COMECE, H.Em. Card. Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, and other Bishop Delegates to COMECE, together with more than 110 Catholic Bishops from all around the world, signed on Monday, 6 July 2020, the declaration “Now more than ever, we need mandatory supply chain due diligence to stop corporate abuse and guarantee global solidarity”, demanding public authorities to introduce binding legislation to stop corporate abuses, … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

EU and US Bishops Offer Prayers for US–Russia Arms Control Negotiations

Bishop Rimantas Norvila, President of the COMECE Commission on the EU External Relations, and Bishop David J. Malloy, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, have issued a joint statement in view of a meeting between U.S. and Russian officials, scheduled to take place on 22 June 2020 in Vienna. In the context of the anticipated U.S.-Russia talks … Continue reading »