The Politics of Religious Lobbies in the European Union
Lead Research Organisation:
Aston University
Department Name: Sch of Languages and Social Sciences
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Leustean L
(2012)
Representing Religion in the European Union: Does God Matter?
Leustean L
(2011)
Transatlantic Representations of Religion
in Politics, Religion & Ideology
Leustean L
(2014)
The Ecumenical Movement & the Making of the European Community
Leustean L
(2011)
The Ecumenical Movement and the Schuman Plan, 1950-54
in Journal of Church and State
Leustean L
(2011)
Representing Religion in the European Union. A Typology of Actors
in Politics, Religion & Ideology
Leustean L
(2011)
Politics of Religion in Western Europe: Modernities in Conflict?
Leustean, Lucian N.
(2011)
Making faith matter in the EU
Leustean, Lucian N.
(2012)
Does God matter to the EU?
| Description | The scientific impact detailed in this report has been achieved in two areas: 1) expertise on the political impact of religious mobilisation in the construction of the European Union; 2) recommendations to religious and convictional groups in dialogue with European institutions. This research challenged the predominant perception that religious communities have had little impact on the process of European integration. It investigated the role of religious communities in the European Union by focusing on relations between religious policy practitioners and EU officials from the Second World War until today. |
| Exploitation Route | Drawing on a wide range of archival sources and interviews with current and former EU officials, the research provided the following findings: 1. Despite the widespread perception that religious issues have been absent from the process of European integration, this project has demonstrated prolonged contact between churchmen, politicians and EU officials from the 1950 Schuman Declaration until today. 2. It proposed four types of relations between European institutions and 'churches, religions and communities of conviction', namely public-private (1950-82), experimental (1982-90), pro-active (1990-2007), and institutionalised (2007-today). 3. Each type reflected an increase of the European Commission's engagement with religious and convictional groups. 4. The project identified 120 religious/convictional groups in dialogue with the European Commission from the Schuman Plan until today. 5. The project identified 82 religious and convictional offices in Brussels and Strasbourg, most of which were established after President Jacques Delors launched a public debate on the 'heart and soul' of Europe in the early 1990s. 6. For the first time in the history of the acquis communautaire, Article 17 in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty institutionalises 'an open, transparent and regular dialogue' with 'churches, religions and communities of conviction' without indicating the mechanism of this dialogue. 7. Religious and convictional issues remain under the jurisdiction of EU national member states. |
| Sectors | Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| URL | http://www.aston.ac.uk/lss/research/research-centres/aston-centre-europe/research-areas/projects-grants/religion-eu/ |
| Description | Political controversies on the 'Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe' and disputes over religious symbols in the public sphere show that religion has become more visible in the corridors of European institutions. Through a comparative analysis of religious communities in Brussels, the project addresses the following questions: 1.How do (trans)national religious communities approach European institutions? 2.What are the rationale and the mechanisms of religious interest representation? 3.How are religious values transposed into political strategies? 4.And, how has the construction of the European Union been influenced by religious communities? The project challenges the predominant perception that religious communities have had little impact on the process of European integration. It investigates the role of religious communities in the construction of the European Union by focusing on relations between religious policy practitioners and EU technocrats from the Second World War until today. The project draws on qualitative and quantitative data; interviews with religious policy practitioners and EU technocrats; unpublished archival material; official declarations of religious and EU bodies; national legislation on religion; codes of conduct; and the European Values Survey and the European Social Survey. |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | Churches and the idea of Europe : the rise and fall of the ecumenical commission on European cooperation, 1950-1974 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at a conference on 'European integration : ideas of Europe in trans-and supranational communities' organised by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Churches, reconciliation and the European Union |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at a conference on 'The power of religion : towards peace and moderation or violence and extremism?' organised by the Centre for the Study of Religion, Conflict and Cooperation, London Metropolitan University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Eastern orthodoxy, the ecumenical movement and the construction of the European Community, 1950-92 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at a conference on 'Orthodox Christian tradition and the integration of Europe' organised by the Catholic University of Leuven. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Orthodox representations in the European Union |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at a workshop on 'Church and Nation in Orthodox Ecclesiology' organised by the University Ecclesiastical Academy of Thessaloniki, 22-25 February 2012. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Religious representations in the European Union |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at the Seminars Series on Religion and Politics, the Centre for the Study of International Governance, Loughborough University, 7 March 2012. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Religious transnational networks in the European economic community, 1950-1986 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at the International conference of the Council for European Studies, Barcelona. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/ces/ces11/ |
| Description | Representing churches, religions and communities of conviction in the European Union |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | A plenary lecture at the European Intensive Programme 2012 on 'Europeans between Europeanisation and Globalisation: Cultural Citizenship and European Identity: Envisaging Challenge' organised by the University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain on 21 June 2012. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Representing religion in the European Union : actors and strategies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at the London School of Economics and Political Science. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Representing religion in the European Union : the Brussels strategy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a lecture on 'Representing religion in the European Union : the Brussels strategy' at the Aston Centre for Europe, Birmingham on 2 March 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Representing religion in the European Union : the orthodox perspective |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk at Heythrop College London. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | The political mobilisation of Protestant networks in the European economic community, 1957-1992 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I gave a paper at an international conference on 'Non-state actors in European integration, 1950-1992 : from polity-building to transnational politics and policy-making?' organised by Aarhus University, Denmark. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | The representation of religious communities at the EU level |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the European Commission, Brussels. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008,2011 |
| URL | http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/taiex/dyn/create_speech.jsp?num=22075 |