Conference of European Churches - Office of Communications

Press release No. 09-19/e

28 April 2009

European Churches and EU Institutions Discuss Economic Crisis

Conference on “Shaping European Economic and Social Policies in Times of Uncertainty” in the European Parliament

A conference on European economic and social policies will take place on Wednesday 29 April 2009 at the European Parliament in Brussels. It is co-organised by the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and Evelyne Gebhardt MEP. Keynote speakers will be Pervenche Beres, Chairwoman of the Committee on Economic and Monetary affairs of the European Parliament and Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission.

The Central Committee of CEC, which met in Cyprus last Fall, expressed the concern that “millions of people have already suffered from the recent economic problems. As the Conference of European Churches we urge governments to be more concerned about protecting the most vulnerable of citizens and that a sense of justice will prevail.” (See Statement )

The conference in the European Parliament will focus on the question of how to protect the people in Europe in this time of financial and economic crisis. It will discuss how to strengthen the social dimension of the Lisbon strategy (EU’s strategy for growth and jobs). It shall also raise the question of the social impact of the Lisbon Treaty and the strategic plans of the Parliament’s political groups for the forthcoming parliamentary period.

The conference, sponsored by the EU Presidency, the European Commission and social partners, will take place shortly before the EU Social Summit on 7 May 2009. The purpose of the Social Summit is to find better ways to protect people in the economic crisis.

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The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 120 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe, plus 40 associated organisations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.

For more information:
Luca Negro
CEC Secretary for Communications and Information
Phone +41 22 791 64 85 or 791 63 25
Fax +41 22 791 62 27
e-mail: Luca.Negro@cec-kek.org