EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/532

(2004/C 88 E/0545)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0776/04

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: Violation of religious freedom in Greece

In view of the following:

— Article 6 of the EU Treaty

— Articles 10, 22 and 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU;

— Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 (in particular Articles 9 and 14);

— the International Religious Freedom Report for 2003 issued by the US Department of State;

and the fact that:

— non-Orthodox groups in Greece are encountering administrative obstacles and legal restrictions when practising their religion and leaders of some non-Orthodox religious groups claim that all the taxes paid by religious organisations are discriminatory, since the government subsidises the Orthodox Church, whilst other groups finance themselves;

— various religious groups have reported difficulties in dealing with administrative matters and that the privileges and legal prerogatives accorded to the Greek Orthodox Church are not extended to other recognised religions;

— members of Jehovah's Witnesses have suffered harassment in the form of arbitrary identity checks, difficulties in burying their dead and local officials' opposition to their building churches;

— other religious groups such as Mormons and foreign Jews have reported problems in renewing visas for ministers and rabbis who are non-EU citizens, since the government does not have a workers' visa specifically for clerics;

— non-Orthodox citizens encounter problems in gaining access to careers in the army, the police, the fire brigade or the civil service owing to their religion; generally speaking only members of the Orthodox Church can become army officers, which induces members of other faiths to declare that they are Orthodox; there are also reports of pressure being put on Greek Orthodox military personnel not to marry somebody of another faith in a non-Orthodox ceremony, otherwise they may be passed over for promotion;

— the Orthodox Church has published a list of religious practices and groups which are considered sacrilegious and officials of the Orthodox Church have admitted that they refuse dialogue with religious groups considered as prejudicial to practising members of the Orthodox Church and have even advised Orthodox Greeks to shun adherents of such faiths.

Can the Commission say whether it is aware of these facts, whether it has given them due consideration and assessed them and what conclusions it has reached?

Can the Commission also say whether it considers the actions described as an infringement of the fundamental rights guaranteed in Articles 10, 22 and 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and contrary to Article 6 of the EU Treaty?

If it does not explicitly condemn these actions, on what legal principles it bases its attitude?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(29 April 2004)

The Honourable Member refers to a wide variety of circumstances or practices which, he claims, result in violations of religious freedom in Greece. These circumstances and practices have not previously been brought to the Commission's attention.

The Commission's subsequent evaluation of these circumstances and the initiatives it may take in that connection will depend on whether they are covered by Community law.

Some of the circumstances referred to are totally outside the scope of Community law and therefore the Commission will not be able to take action on them. The refusal to grant a workers' visa specifically for clerics from third countries is one such case, since there are no Community rules governing the entry and residence for work purposes of third-country nationals, and all decisions in that field are taken by the Member States.

Some of the practices mentioned appear to be covered by the Declaration on the status of churches and non-confessional organisations attached to the Amsterdam Treaty, under which the European Union respects the status under national law of churches, religious communities and non-confessional organisations in the Member States. This holds true for the administrative conditions associated with the practice of religions other than Orthodoxy and for the taxes paid by religious organisations referred to by the Honourable Member.

The list of religious practices and groups considered sacrilegious by the Orthodox Church and the social conduct to which it may give rise can affect relations between private individuals only, and as such no further comment is required.

As regards the alleged discrimination against persons in gaining access to careers and receiving promotion in the civil service, the Commission points out that Greece is obliged to apply Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000, which prohibits discrimination based on religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in the field of employment and occupation (1). Application of this Directive has been mandatory for all the Member States since 2 December 2003.

Within the framework of its evaluation of the application by the Member States of the aforementioned Directive, the Commission sent Greece a letter of formal notice concerning its failure to give notification of measures transposing the Directive into national law.

(1) OJ L 303, 2.12.2000.