What came before

In 2009 MEPs Dennis de Jong and Petervan Dalen started to promote an issue thathad up to then been somewhat ignored inEU foreign policy:

freedom of religion or

belief.

The importance of religion andreligious identity in global affairs has beenrecognised ever more widely, also with theestablishment of the

European External

Action Service

(EEAS) in 2010.MEPs De Jong and Van Dalen founded agroup of

like-minded MEPs

with whomthey began to promote religious freedom inthe EEAS. These efforts were paralleled inthe Council of Ministers where someMember States pushed the EEAS to domore to protect freedom of religion orbelief. The combined efforts have proveneffective, as the EEAS is currently drafting

guidelines

for EU delegations around theworld on freedom of religion or belief.

Keynote speaker at the event was theEuropean Union Special Representative forHuman Rights,

Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis.

He told the audience he shared the beliefthat religious freedom is a key human rightand committed to closely cooperate with theworking group.

Launch working group

On 17 December 2012 the group of like-minded MEPs together with interestedcolleagues officially

launched

the EPworking group on Freedom of Religion orBelief at a well-attended event in theEuropean Parliament.

Core tasks

The core tasks of the working group are thefollowing:oBeing an

interlocutor

between theEEAS and the European Parliament inthe field of Freedom of Religion orBelief.oBeing a

focal point

for otherorganisations (like for example the USCommission on International ReligiousFreedom) in the field of FoRB.oProviding for an

annual overview

ofthe priorities and key concerns in thefield of freedom of religion or belief,and have these issues included in theEuropean Parliament's annual report onhuman rights.oProviding for input for human rightsclauses in the annual

budget

lines ofAFET, DROI and BUDG.oOrganising

hearings

and meetings inthe European Parliament on issues that

are relevant for the work of the WorkingGroup.

The Group's Members:

The working group consists of the followingMEPS:Dennis de Jong and Peter van Dalen arejointly chairing and coordinating theworking group's activities.Co-founding MEPs László Surján, GianniPittella, Pat the Cope Gallagher, HannuTakkula, and Margrete Auken jointly formthe working group's Bureau.Directly after its launch, the following MEPshave joined the working group: MarioMauro, Marian Harkin, Laima Andrikiene,Paul Rübig and Konrad Szymanski.

Contact

If you are interested in the activities of theworking group or if you perhaps would liketo become a member, please contact:Femke Reuder Talsma[email protected]+32 (0) 228 31590or:Jannes de Jong[email protected]+32 (0) 228 34453

Newsletter - EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WORKING GROUP ON

FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF - first issue

- EP FoRB working group launched on 17 December 2012 -