Europe-Wide Activities

Religion and Belief in the European Constitution.
To ensure that the rights of different religious communities were fairly represented in the new draft of the European Constitution, IARF's regional coordinator for Europe worked closely with other human rights organisations on this initiative and held workshops on religious freedom in Europe at the Wesley Theological College in Hungary in both March and June, 2003. The IARF has also developed a position statement on this key debate as follows:

*The IARF recognizes that international law does not prohibit state support for religion, but only requires that any such support adheres to the principles of non-discrimination and equality before the law;
*IARF believes that the new European Union Constitutional Treaty must safeguard freedom of religion or belief and freedom of conscience; and,
*IARF does not agree that the Constitution should mention certain religions and beliefs and leave out others.

Discriminatory & Restrictive Legislation in Europe.
Ilona Orbok, IARF's European Coordinator, has worked closely with the Human Rights Without Frontiers in Budapest, to monitor legislation affecting religious minorities. She has made various representations to give the rationale against discriminatory legislation, which has come before the Czech and Hungarian parliaments.

"Freedom of Religion and Belief: Europe's Story"
This book was commissioned for our World Congress in July 2002, but is a useful resource for anyone concerned about the history of religious freedom in Europe. A colourful and engaging book of some 170 pages, it was written with a view to being of interest to those coming to Europe and to inform those living in Europe about their own heritage. It provides the full context for the evolution of the concept of religious freedom on the European continent. Click here to purchase