It’s Time To Implement the EU Guidelines on the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief

An important document recently celebrated its tenth anniversary: “EU Guidelines on the Promotion of freedom of religion or belief,” adopted by the Council on June 24th, 2013. It was meant to direct the EU’s foreign policy towards “promoting and protecting freedom of religion,” and to reaffirm the Union’s “determination … to help prevent and address violations of this right in a timely, consistent and coherent manner.” 

Despite it being a decade old, there is a fair chance you may have never heard of it. While perhaps the rather long title of the document might make it hard to remember, it is not unreasonable to advance two other explanations as to why this document seems to be largely unknown.

Either the Council, Commission, and European external action service have been working hard to promote and protect freedom of religion but have felt no need to communicate about their work on the internal and external scene, following their thorough implementation of these guidelines.

Or the concerned EU institutions may have over time quietly put aside their initially strong commitments to uphold this fundamental right. In which case it would not be exaggerated to refer to what German writer Hans Magnus Enzensberger called Gratismut, that is gratuitous courage: boasting in political sermons and opportunities for soapbox oratories, but fading away once real and concrete action is required. 

Gratismut

Sadly, one must conclude this second hypothesis is closer to reality. Freedom of religion, despite being enshrined in all major human right treaties including the EU’s own fundamental rights charter, appears to have been anything but a priority in recent years. 

It is telling that the guidelines themselves call for their implementation to be evaluated three years after their adoption. Ten years on, no report on the matter has been issued by the competent EU institutions.

It took the Commission up to three years to effectively renew the position of the EU special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief. No reason has been provided for why it took so long or why no staff or resources have been made available to support this position. 

Stakeholders furthermore voiced concerns regarding the seemingly scant attention granted by EU institutions to the so-called article 17 dialogue, that is, the dialogue with churches, religious associations or communities, philosophical and non-confessional organizations.

In fact, the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the guidelines would have gone largely unnoticed, had I not, with my political group, taken the initiative to question the Council and request for the matter to be debated by the European Parliament’s plenary. 

Protecting the freedom of religion

Together with my esteemed colleagues, we denounced the Commission’s apparent disregard for the guidelines, which stands in sharp contrast with the manifold violations in the field of religious freedom observed around the world. If anyone is of the opinion that action is simply not necessary, global oppression may convince them otherwise.

July’s EP urgency resolution on the current situation in the Indian state of Manipur tabled by five political groups and co-authored by the undersigned highlighted the plight of religious minorities, particularly Christians. Following ongoing clashes between ethnic communities that broke out in May, over 250 churches were destroyed, and many Christians were aggressed against or had to flee for their lives while their homes were being destroyed. 

By means of another urgency resolution quasi-unanimously adopted mid-April of this year, Parliament denounced draconian blasphemy laws in Nigeria, where a 21-year old Sufi Muslim musician was sentenced to death for having authored an allegedly ‘blasphemous’ religious song. In Nigeria alone, an average of 13 Christians a day were murdered last year, and there is no sign this sad record will not be broken by the end of this year.

The much-needed debate reminded us that in countries like Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Pakistan (to only name a few), religious freedom is non-existent. Laws and policies are adopted which actively prevent one from holding and expressing religious beliefs that differ from the majority religion of the country. Blasphemy laws, forced conversion practices, and apostasy legislation were rightly denounced. 

On a global scale, it is estimated more than 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution; 20% of these oppressed believers are located in Asia. The EU has many important strategic partners in Asia, who should be held accountable for the grave violations of this fundamental human right. Are these victims of no, or little, importance to the European Union?

On the occasion of the debate, Commissioner Jourová reaffirmed “the implementation of these guidelines on freedom of religion and beliefs (sic) remains a priority of the EU’s external action.” It is to be hoped these words will, this time, be followed by concrete and sustained efforts by the Council, the Commission, and the external action service.

These institutions could do so, for instance, by regularly issuing and presenting thorough implementation reports of the guidelines; providing the EU special envoy with additional staff and resources, so that the mandate can be permanent and effectively be carried out, and designating June 24th as the European Day for the Promotion of Religion or belief. 

These were the three recommendations I made when I took the floor during the plenary. My firm hope is they will serve as an inspiration and be implemented to the benefit of many victims of religious persecution worldwide.