COMECE and Caritas Europa hosted a dialogue meeting with faith-based actors and policy-makers in preparation of the 5th EU-Africa Summit that will take place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in November 2017. Stakeholders from the United Nations, African Union, European External Action Service, European Parliament, European Commission, as well as the Estonian Council Presidency and faith-based actors from the field, discussed three key policy areas: Youth, … Continue reading »

COMECE hosted a roundtable debate on the concept of resilience and the respective roles of policy-makers and faith-based actors in this process. The meeting gathered 30 stakeholders from European External Action Service, European Commission, European Parliament as well as UN and faith-based actors from the field. In view of the current geopolitical challenges and of EU’s strategic priority to foster resilience of countries and their … Continue reading »

In the current geopolitical and strategic environment, security is a major concern for people and a priority for the EU. Ahead of the European Council, COMECE has published its assessment and proposals for a future European Security and Defence Policy. The EU Heads of State and Government will discuss on 22-23 June 2017 the strengthening of EU cooperation on security and defence. In the current … Continue reading »

The EU presented a Joint Communication on how it aims to support states, societies, communities and individuals in adapting to growing and increasingly long-term pressures. COMECE welcomes the EU’s Joint Communication on resilience and encourages the EU to prioritise a people-centered approach in the implementation process. COMECE has actively contributed to the drafting process of the EU’s Joint Communication. We particularly welcome the EU’s intention … Continue reading »

COMECE hosted a meeting on resilience, a notion that has become increasingly important in the discourse on the European peace and security policy. 25 representatives of Churches and faith-based organisations reflected jointly on this concept and on ways of putting it into practice. From COMECE’s perspective, the human being, family and local community should build the primary focus of EU’s resilience-fostering efforts. By pursuing a … Continue reading »

Pope Francis received the Heads of State and Government of 27 EU Member States on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. In his speech, he called on them to discern “the paths of hope, identifying specific ways forward to ensure that the significant steps taken thus far have not been wasted, but serve as the pledge of a long and … Continue reading »