The COMECE Legal Affairs Commission monitors EU justice and fundamental rights policies, especially in those areas with a direct impact on the activities of the Catholic Church in the EU: non-discrimination, data protection, State-Church relations (Art. 17.1 TFEU), Freedom of Religion inside the EU. Other working topics according to its mandate are e.g. rights of the child/child protection, cross-border family law, racism, and xenophobia, fight against disinformation.
It prepares contributions and provides an effective platform of dialogue with the EU institutions on legal matters, as well as of exchange, concertation, and mutual support among Bishops’ Conferences.
Its President is H.E. Mgr. Theodorus C.M. Hoogenboom, Bishop Delegate of the Dutch Bishops' Conference to COMECE. Its Secretary is Alessandro Calcagno, Legal adviser at the COMECE Secretariat. The members of this Commission are legal experts nominated by the EU Bishops’ Conferences for a mandate of 5 years.
