Brussels, 14/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - COMECE (the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community) and CEC (the Conference of European Churches) have called on the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU to pay particular attention to social cohesion and migration in Europe. The Greek deputy foreign minister with special responsibility for European affairs, Dimitris Kourkoulas, met a delegation in Athens on 10 January of Greek and European religious representatives, part of the regular series of meetings between church representatives and the EU rotating presidencies, to discuss the big issues Greece is hoping to have addressed during its six month presidency.
The churches back the Greek Presidency's ambitious objective to strengthen social cohesion in Europe and develop the European Union's social dimension. They expressed concern about the extremely high levels of youth unemployment, particularly in southern Europe, pointing out that social services must not be seen as costs, but rather as policies to support employment and the economy. COMECE, says there is very strong debate about immigration to Europe and the freedom of establishment within Europe. Everyone agreed that the impact of demographic change in Europe cannot be alleviated without immigration, but the EU does not have an immigration policy along the lines of the policy in the United States or Australia. The religious representatives brought up the question of greater solidarity among the member states for housing refugees and immigrants, and the need to ensure refugees are treated with respect in the name of human dignity and respect of human rights. More generally, they discussed various forms of human trafficking and the importance of aiding less prosperous regions of the globe to provide a safer life for their population, so that people stay at home rather than setting off to seek a better fortune elsewhere. (IL/transl.fl)