Category Archives: Policy Areas

International Religious Freedom, Policy Areas, Press

NEWS

COMECE urges the EU to better protect and promote Freedom of Religion

Statistics show that more than 70% of the global population suffers from restrictions on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). COMECE urges the EU to intensify its external action to promote the fundamental right of freedom of religion and full citizenship for all members of the communities where freedom of religious minorities are restricted. The European Parliament analysed the issue of Freedom of Religion or … Continue reading »

Ethics, Research & Health, Policy Areas, Press

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COMECE contribution to the public consultation of Digital Ethics

COMECE contributed to the public consultation on Digital Ethics launched by the European Data Protection Supervisor in order to understand how new technologies are shaping our life and which elements are needed to regulate new technological developments. Engaged to the social teaching of the Church, in its contribution COMECE underlined the unlimited equal value of each human life and pointed out the need for a … Continue reading »

Migration & Asylum, Press

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Roma people, committing for their full inclusion into the European societies

Seven years after the EU Commission adopted the EU framework for National Roma Inclusion Strategies up to 2020, recent statistics show that Roma people’s inclusion in European societies is still a challenge that deserves to be faced. COMECE is committed to promote their full integration into societies, respecting their culture in diversity and meeting their specific needs, including education, employment, housing, healthcare and citizenship. As … Continue reading »

Ethics, Research & Health, Press

NEWS

A global responsibility to protect human life?

COMECE took part in the workshop “Equal beginnings, but then? A global responsibility” organised in the Vatican on 25-26 June by the Pontifical Academy for Life within the context of its annual assembly. On the theological bases given by an analysis of the content-related developments from the encyclicals “Evangelium Vitae” and “Laudato Si”, participants from all over the world engaged into a dialogue to shed … Continue reading »

Justice & Fundamental Rights, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

Church-EU Dialogue. Church delegation meets with the Austrian EU Presidency

A delegation of Austrian and European Church representatives met in Vienna on 23 July 2018 with Karoline Edtstadler, Secretary of State for Home Affairs of the Austrian government, to exchange views on the priorities of the Austrian Presidency of the EU Council. Regular meetings of churches with the rotating EU Presidency have been taking place for more than 20 years. They are an expression of … Continue reading »

Migration & Asylum, Policy Areas, Press

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The Global Compact on Migration adopted at the UN

The Global Compact for Safely, Orderly and Regular Migration was finalised on 13 July and shall be formally adopted during the Intergovernmental Conference that will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 10-11 December 2018. As Fr. Fabio Baggio C.S, Under-Secretary of the Holy See’s Migration & Refugees Section, explained during the recent COMECE-organised meeting, the UN Global Compact on Migration is a non-binding intergovernmental negotiated … Continue reading »

Ethics, Research & Health, EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

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New Defence Technologies: which legal and ethical implications?

A roundtable debate on “New Defence Technologies” took place at COMECE on June 19th, 2018, to discuss the current developments in this field and reflect on related legal, security and ethical questions. The meeting, organised in the context of the recent proposal of the European Commission on the future European Defence Fund, gathered representatives of the EU, the military, academia and the Church. The 15 … Continue reading »

Ethics, Research & Health, Policy Areas, Press

NEWS

COMECE to publish reflection on “Robotisation of Life”

Following its contribution to a public consultation of the EU Commission on Artificial Intelligence (AI), COMECE will publish the reflection “Robotisation of Life” in order to adress the many ethical questions raised by AI’s effects on our societies. The document, to be published in July 2018, will describe and analyse the phenomena through the lenses of the Catholic social teaching. It was elaborated by the … Continue reading »

Migration & Asylum, Policy Areas, Press

NEWS

Migration and Asylum: focus on the Dublin Regulation recast

The COMECE Working Group on Migration and Asylum examined the status quo of the negotiations concerning the Dublin Regulation recast, that should be adopted by the Council at the end of June 2018. The event was held last week and gathered experts from Bishops’ conferences, representatives of Catholic organizations and EU and UN officials. Participants also discussed the criminalisation of the humanitarian assistance to irregular … Continue reading »