COMECE: Mgr Crociata (President), include non-profit religious organisations in the EU Directive on European Cross-Border Associations

During the presentation of the University Research Centre called “Osservatorio su enti religiosi, patrimonio ecclesiastico e organizzazioni non profit” (“Observatory on religious bodies, ecclesiastical heritage and non-profit organisations”) held at Palazzo Cardinal Cesi in Rome on 24 January, the President of COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union), Mgr Mariano Crociata, supported the idea of including religious organisations in the European Cross-Border Associations (ECBA) Directive, recently proposed by the European Commission. At present, religious bodies are excluded from this directive. The directive aims at “facilitating cross-border activities of non-profit associations in the EU”, improving “the functioning of the Internal Market by removing legal and administrative barriers for non-profit associations that operate or wish to operate in more than one Member State, thus promoting the role non-profit associations play in generating economic and societal values in the EU”. Mgr Crociata stressed that “the proposed Directive excludes religious organisations from its scope. If the purpose of the Directive is to facilitate the activity of all non-profit organisations, then the exclusion of non-profit religious organisations is clearly discriminatory”. “As a result of the advocacy work carried out by COMECE together with other Catholic and Protestant organisations, there is now a good chance that the European Parliament, in its position, will support the inclusion of religious organisations in the ECBA Directive”, said the President of COMECE.
Gianni Borsa