The Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe will be held in Reykjavík on May 16–17 2023. This is the fourth time in the 74-year history of the organisation that the leaders of the member states meet under the auspices of the Council.
The Summit will reaffirm the principles of the Council of Europe, as well as the Council’s support for Ukraine… Read more »
The Justice and Peace Commission welcomes this public consultation and believes that if it is robust enough and its implementation properly enforced, the proposed regulations on the Contractor’s licence can be a step in the right direction. Also, we are aware that measures concerning who can enter the construction market as a contractor on their own, while important, cannot provide a comprehensive solution to all the well-known problems affecting this industry… Read more »
With Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its consequences, the world seems to have regressed into a new Cold War dynamic, involving a dangerous rhetoric with threats of use of nuclear weapons. Eroding respect for the principles of international law, including arms control agreements, undermines trust within the international community. Along with renewed strategic rivalry among nuclear powers and evolving technologies, this makes the scenario of an intentional or accidental nuclear detonation very real… Read more »
On 24 February 2022 the Russian government launched a brutal and undeclared invasion of Ukraine. Like many civil society actors, Justice and Peace Europe immediately condemned the Russian aggression. Today, as secretaries general of Justice and Peace Commissions in Europe we reaffirm on the foundation of our Christian values and convictions that whilst diplomacy remains essential, some principles are non-negotiable, in particular respect for the dignity of every human being, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and the imperative of non-aggression, which is the basis for peaceful coexistence… Read more »
Surveying global affairs today may leave us with a sense of disorientation, unpredictability or even fear. European nations are confronted and challenged on the global stage with fragile trust in international legal frameworks and multilateral mechanisms, even if seeds of hope seem to be emerging with the revival of the transatlantic partnership. The Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions, composed of more than thirty national commissions is convinced that the way forward for Europe as a whole is to be found in the development of a new culture of peace… Read more »
In a joint statement, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and Justice and Peace Europe call on the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) and their member states to strengthen their commitment to equitable global vaccine supply and global health issues ahead of the joint AU-EU Summit.
Bishop Noël Treanor, president of Justice and Peace Europe, notes that the consequences of the pandemic are hitting particularly hard those who were already struggling before the pandemic: “Refugees and homeless people, often living in precarious conditions, live in constant fear of infection and are even more isolated than before… Read more »
The Justice and Peace Commission welcomes the publication of Malta’s first Foreign Policy Strategy document and the commitment expressed in the document to use “diplomacy to make the world a better place to live”. Guided by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, the Commission participated in the consultation process by submitting a document with reflections on the following four points:
Twenty years ago, the French intellectual Marcel GAUCHET warned us that democracy, having conquered its external enemies, was now facing its most formidable challenge: its own survival. Indeed, the migratory flows in the wake of what has been called the Arab Spring, particularly at the borders of Europe in recent weeks, the tensions of Brexit and two years of the pandemic, show that the exercise of certain fundamental rights can undermine others… Read more »
Twenty‑two entities presented a position paper on the recreational cannabis bill to members of parliament, expressing serious concern about the short and long term effects on society of the proposed legislation and calling for a serious, mature and researched debate on the subject. The proposed bill will be presented today for debate in Parliament.
All entities, many of which work with children and young people, strongly believe that as currently presented, the bill will have a negative effect in normalising drug use while failing to protect both society and drug users… Read more »
The Justice and Peace Commission welcomes the 2022 Budget, recognising the challenging times our country and the world have faced and will continue to face in the near future. The Commission is here offering its view in the light of the “Beyond GDP” initiative, launched in 2020, which promotes the need for our country to reorient our economic model towards a more holistic and sustainable vision… Read more »
