Thursday

23rd Mar 2023

Merkel gives up on God in EU treaty

German chancellor and Christian Democrat Angela Merkel has voiced regret there will be no reference to Christian roots in the revised EU treaty, amid controversial remarks about damage to churches in Turkish Cyprus at a meeting of religious VIPs in Brussels.

"You know what my personal view is. I would have liked the constitution to deliver such a reference. But as president of the European Council, I see there is not much of a chance," she said on the prospects of God appearing in a preamble to the EU text. "I can't hold out any hope," she added.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • A sixth century icon from North Africa (Photo: Wikipedia)

Her statement comes in the context of Germany's push to fix the broad outlines of a new EU treaty - still called a "constitution" by some - in late June, following months of bilateral consultations with EU states after the rejection of the original EU constitution in 2005.

The God debate is at least as old as the 2002 EU convention that wrote the original constitution, with Roman Catholic states like Poland and the Vatican pushing for the reference, but with France and the UK worried over national secularist traditions or damaging relations with Islamic EU candidate Turkey.

The EU's 50th birthday declaration in March rejuvenated the discussion. But in the end the birthday text made no reference to Christianity, while praising "identities and diverse traditions of member states" and how the EU is "enriched" by a "variety of languages, cultures."

Universal values

When the German chancellor, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering met Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders at the EU capital on Tuesday (15 May), they stuck to safe ground on "universal" EU values such as "human dignity."

"Human dignity is at the basis of the values we share in Europe," Mr Barroso said. "We have discussed the need to respect freedom of religion not just in the EU but in all the countries that want to be part of the EU and in the wider world."

Earlier at lunch, Mr Barroso told his guests that every time he talks with Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan he stresses the importance of freedom of worship. Mr Poettering also voiced concern over the murder in April of three Christian publishers in Turkey and praised Ankara's handling of the incident.

But the meeting was not entirely free of controversy, with Ms Merkel at the final press conference saying the EU "can't close its eyes" to violations of "human dignity" in "particular terms" such as "the fact religious property is being damaged in Northern Cyprus."

The Archbishop of All Cyprus

Her comment relates to her conversation with His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, the Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus, who criticised Turkish Cypriot authorities at Tuesday's religious seminar. An EU official later played down Ms Merkel's words, saying she was merely trying to reflect the day's debate.

About 500 Orthodox Christian churches fell under Turkish Cypriot control following the Turkish-Greek conflict on the island in 1974. The past 33 years have seen widespread reports of looting and vandalism of priceless, Byzantine-era frescos and icons in the region.

But the Turkish Cypriot community refuses to take the blame, saying that non-recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by the international community means crucial aid from bodies like UNESCO cannot get through. The republic recently sent a letter to MEPs that also complains of damage done to Islamic sites in southern Cyprus.

"There are issues relating to this on both sides," a Turkish Cypriot representative told EUobserver.

MEPs press EU Commission over Qatari-paid business-class flights

Pro-transparency MEPs are asking probing questions into possible conflict of interest between a senior EU commission official and Qatar, following revelations his business class trips were paid by Doha while negotiating a market access deal for its national airline.

Feature

Germany as a laboratory of 'communism vs capitalism'

A new exhibition at the Deutsches Historiches Musuem in Berlin unveils industrial photography of Germany's steel, coal, car, chemical and textile industries from the 1950s to 1980s — some in East Germany, some in West. But which was which?

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Latest News

  1. Sweden worried by EU visa-free deal with Venezuela
  2. Spain denies any responsibility in Melilla migrant deaths
  3. How much can we trust Russian opinion polls on the war?
  4. Banning PFAS 'forever chemicals' may take forever in Brussels
  5. EU Parliament joins court case against Hungary's anti-LGBTI law
  6. Three French MEPs to stay on election-observation blacklist
  7. Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown
  8. When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us