Religion and the European Union: Attitudes of Catholic and Protestant Churches toward European Integration

Abstract

Christian churches have gradually increased their level of cooperation with the European Union (EU) institutions. They act in the EU as nonstate actors and identity-formers, enjoying at the same time the status of special participants in European integration.1 Churches also act in other capacities, such as the providers of moral and ethical standards. In that respect, Michael Vorbeck points to a distinct role played by churches, saying that they “[s]hould not just show up as a kind of lobby group trying to defend their territory or sector of activities. They should rather stress the nature of Europe as a community of values.”2 Churches hope to make a positive impact in many broad areas that relate to issues such as human rights, ethics, bioethics and human genetics, education, culture and cultural heritage, peaceful conflict-solving, social and family affairs, solidarity, and so on.3 Churches' increasing involvement in the process of European unification requires a more profound assessment of European integration from them. In fact, this issue has been of growing interest in various Christian communities. The level of churches' involvement in European integration may depend on their interest in and their attitudes toward the European project. It is noteworthy to see whether churches really want to be involved in European integration and EU politics and whether these processes are important to them. Indeed, the higher their interest, the greater their involvement in and their desire to influence the processes occurring in the EU.