wfn.org | Methodists feel effects of European Union

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 10, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-71BP{260}

NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series. It is accompanied by a
sidebar, UMNS story #261. Photographs will be available.

By Linda Bloom and Kathleen LaCamera*

Americans have a lot of stereotypical ideas about how Europeans get along -
or do not get along - with each other.

Do the English, for example, really hate the French? Is it true that the
Germans don't get along with the Belgians and that the French dislike anyone
who's not French?

Whether these generalizations are valid or represent outdated caricatures,
what Americans have heard very little about -- at least until the recent
introduction of the Euro currency -- is the longstanding political and
economic cooperation found in the institution of the European Union (EU).

For residents of the union's 15 member states - and, perhaps, even more for
citizens of Eastern European countries shut out of the union - it is an
institution gaining increasing influence. And members of United Methodist
and Methodist churches are among those affected.

The European Union is not a "United States of Europe," nor is it simply a
group of countries related by common economic interests, according to the
Rev. Stephen Plant, European secretary for the British Methodist Church.

"In a sense, membership in the EU acknowledges that national belonging is
not a final identity, but always a part of a wider multinational identity,"
he said. "This is something that we (the church) already share with the EU.

"There's a sense in which Europeans have pooled their resources. ...
Equally, all Europeans are keen to support their national interests and
identity," he added.

The European Union is the result of a process of economic and political
integration begun in the 1950s by France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands,
Italy and Luxembourg. Today, the membership also includes Austria, Denmark,
Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United
Kingdom. More members are expected to be added soon after 2000.

The Euro, officially introduced Jan. 1 as an accounting currency (it
replaces national currencies in 2002), consolidates and extends the European
marketplace. According to The New York Times, the Euro already has helped
revive the slower economies of its members. On July 9, 1998, the Times
reported that interest rates had plunged from 11 percent to less than 6
percent in Spain and Portugal because they are part of the "Euro Zone."
Ireland, which was one of the poorest Western European countries in 1990,
has become an important manufacturing base for American companies exporting
to Europe, allowing its personal income levels to start catching up with the
rest of Europe.

But such economic success does not necessarily extend outside EU boundaries,
which is a concern for someone like United Methodist Bishop Hans Vaxby,
whose territory in northern Europe includes countries both inside and
outside the union.

"From a Christian point of view and as a member of a global church, I want
to encourage the work towards a greater European integration," Vaxby said.
"To avoid that EU becomes a club of the rich, it is important that more and
more countries join. A national egotism needs to be followed by a European
mutual commitment and international solidarity."

He believes that the European Methodist Council, through ecumenical
channels, can become an advocate for a fair-minded solidarity. The council,
which acts only as an advisory group, draws its membership from 16
countries. It coordinates cooperative Methodist work in Europe, allows for
the sharing of resources and works with ecumenical partners in Christian
mission

Plant, who serves as secretary of the European Methodist Council, said
churches can probably best influence the EU through their own countries. In
the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom - where four out of every five
European Methodists live - the British Methodist Church has been part of an
ecumenical delegation that has met with the British foreign secretary, Robin
Cook, on EU-related issues. Among the policy areas discussed on two separate
occasions were employment, the environment and arms trade.

The Rev. John Kennedy, who headed the delegation, is also secretary for
political affairs for the British Methodists. In 1992, he started a
publication called Eurobulletin, which reports monthly on EU news from a
Methodist perspective.

But Kennedy is not optimistic about the extent of church influence on the
union. Officially, he said, churches are deferred to because of Europe's
religious legacy. But he noted that the decline of religion as a public
force has been "quite dramatic" in Europe.

He considers the union to be "radically secular" and the situation more
similar to that of the United States, where the influence of churches often
arises from the abilities of Christians to develop their political vocation.

The Rev. Ulrich Meisel, a German United Methodist pastor and former member
of the European Parliament, agreed that "churches are no longer an important
political factor" in most European countries and are considered "a part of
culture and leisure time" by the public.

But through an office in Brussels - where the union is based - the
ecumenical Conference of European Churches does try to exert some influence.
Keith Jenkins, a British Methodist pastor who serves as secretary of the
conference's Church and Society Commission, said his office helps churches
reflect on issues raised by the policies and practices of EU institutions.

The commission also acts, in a way, as a lobbying group by presenting the
broad range of its constituents' views to the union itself. But the purpose
is not simply to protect the interests of churches. "We are here to promote
social, ethical reflection," Jenkins explained.

The commission maintains working groups in five major areas of concern -
bioethics; economic, environmental and social issues; north-south issues;
political and economic union and enlargement of the membership; and EU
legislation. In the near future, it will introduce two more working groups,
one on security and human rights and the other on religious freedom.

Jenkins emphasized that even though economic cooperation plays a prominent
role in the European Union, the alliance was founded in a post-World War II
era and is meant to be an instrument of reconciliation, to help establish a
peaceful order in Europe.

"There must be a constant reminder that the EU was not founded to talk about
the price of eggs and bacon and, dare I say, bananas," he said. "It was
founded initially as an instrument of peace and reconciliation."

Jenkins pointed out that until the NATO bombing campaign began recently, "we
had passed more than 50 years without a general war in Europe," the first
period of such length in centuries.

# # #

*Bloom is the UMNS news director in New York. LaCamera is a UMNS
correspondent based in England.

______________
United Methodist News Service
http://www.umc.org/umns/
newsdesk@umcom.umc.org
(615)742-5472