Louvain, 25/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The annual General Assembly of the Council of the European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) took place in Leuven last week under the chairmanship of Cardinal Miloslav Vlk from Prague. It allowed the presidents of the 34 Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Europe to meet representatives of the European institutions and to discuss, above all, the EU enlargement process and initiatives to promote "reconciliation and the development of democracy in the countries of South Eastern Europe", reads a press release. In addition, the press release specifies that the General Assembly hoped for closer cooperation with COMECE (the Commission of the Bishop's Conferences of the European Community), which is based in Brussels.
The Assembly adopted, moreover, a declaration in which it welcomes the adoption of the draft European Charter of Fundamental Rights, mainly appreciating the reference to certain socio-ethical principles such as subsidiarity, solidarity and the respect of national identity. The bishops, however, find some of the formulation used in the Charter incomplete or unacceptable, and apart from the lack of any reference to God, they cite the prohibition of cloning of human life (limited to reproductive cloning), and the distinction between the right of marriage and the right to a family, which seem to indicate that one is seeking to recognise relationships that are different from marriage and to call them families.
Caritas hopes for strengthening of text endorsed in Biarritz
Caritas Europa, for its part, regretted the "uncertain legal status" of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, it affirmed in a press release, saying it is "decisive" for the Nice summit to decide to integrate this text in the EU Treaty. Furthermore, Caritas Europa considers that the universal nature of human rights is also valid in "the Union as such", and that the rights set out in the Charter should also apply to all third country nationals, including refugees. In addition, the organisation considers that some articles in the Charter guarantee a lower level of protection than that afforded by the European Social Charter, like those concerning equal opportunities for men and women.