In March 2021, the European Commission adopted the Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030. The Strategy builds on the results of the previous European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, which paved the way to a barrier-free Europe and to empower persons with disabilities so they can enjoy their rights and participate fully in society and economy.

Despite the progress made in the past decade, persons with disabilities still face considerable barriers and have a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion.

The objective of this Strategy is to progress towards ensuring that all persons with disabilities in Europe, regardless of their sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation enjoy their human rights, have equal opportunities, equal access to participate in society and economy, are able to decide where, how and with whom they live, move freely in the EU regardless of their support needs and no longer experience discrimination.

The EU and its Member States are committed to improving social and economic situation of disabled people building on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and on the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. The European Union and all its Member States are party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

European Disability Strategy

EP Plenary session.- Oral question - 10th anniversary of the EU Guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief

EP Plenary session - The EU's actions in the field of freedom of religion or belief worldwide

Art. 17 Book Presentation on ' The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe '

Article 17 Dialogue Seminar: Conference on the Future of Europe

David SASSOLI, EP President meets with Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life and Christos STYLIANIDES, EC Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU

David SASSOLI, EP President in video meeting with the Conference of European Rabbis - Brussels

Religious Freedom in Turkey

Roundtable on Religion and European Society organised by FIPRA and JESC - European Parliament’s Article 17 TFEU

Roundtable on Religion and European Society organised by European Parliament’s Article 17 TFEU Secretariat, Bahá’í International Community and the University of Groningen

All Saints Orthodox Church in Strasbourg

Meeting of the Paneuropean working group of the EPP-group - ' Freedom of Religion or Belief: Challenges today and tomorrow '

Article 17 TFEU dialogue with churches, religions and philosophical organisations. Vice President McGuinness meets with the Bosnian Mufti for Europe, Mr Osman Kozlić, and a delegation of Bosnian Imams from Europe

EPRS - Article 17 TFEU dialogue with churches, religions and philosophical organisations. Book presentation

EP Press conference on Freedom of religion or belief

Religion and Human Rights within the EU : A Shared Responsibility

EU Guidelines and the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU

Antonio TAJANI - EP President meets with Archbishop Jean-Claude HOLLERICH, President of COMECE

Art.17 European Parliament dialogue seminar with churches and religious organisations : ' Implementing the European Social Pillar: The Role of Churches and Religions '

Opening of the sitting

Council position at first reading (Rule 63)

Public access to documents – annual report for the years 2019-2021 (debate)

Global Convergence on Generative AI (debate)

Recommendations of the Commission on public country by country reporting transposition (debate)

Resumption of the sitting

Voting time

Approval of the minutes of the previous sitting

10th anniversary of the EU Guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief (debate)

Explanations of vote

Approval of the minutes of the sitting and forwarding of texts adopted

Dates of forthcoming sittings

Closure of the sitting

Adjournment of the session

Plenary session

Statements by the President

Composition of Parliament 

Composition of committees and delegations

Signing of acts adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (Rule 79): see Minutes

Order of business

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - Serious cross-border threats to health (debate)

Momentum for the Ocean: strengthening Ocean Governance and Biodiversity

Striving for a sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture: the way forward (debate)

Impact of new technologies on taxation: crypto and blockchain (debate)

The EU's actions in the field of freedom of religion or belief worldwide (debate)

Management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Area of Competence (short presentation)

Flexible Assistance to Territories (FAST-CARE) (short presentation)

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Approval of the minutes of the sitting and agenda of the next sitting

Tribute

Negotiations ahead of Parliament’s first reading (Rule 71)

Delegated acts (Rule 111(6))

Election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (debate)

Amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (debate)

EU action plan for organic agriculture (debate)

Persecution of minorities on the grounds of belief or religion (short presentation)

EU strategy to promote education for children in the world (short presentation)

Reaching women's economic independence through entrepreneurship and self-employment (short presentation)

A sustainable blue economy in the EU: the role of fisheries and aquaculture (short presentation)

Agenda of the next sitting

Book presentation 'Securalism: Politics, Religion and Freedom'

Press conference on Freedom of religion or belief

Composition of Parliament : see Minutes

Composition of political groups

Request for the waiver of parliamentary immunity

Composition of committees and delegations: see Minutes

Negotiations ahead of Parliament's first reading (Rule 69c)

Proposal for a Union act: see Minutes: see Minutes

Signature of acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure (Rule 78)

Union’s authorisation procedure for pesticides

Use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road

Gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament

European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy

Assessing how the EU budget is used for public sector reform

EU guidelines and the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU

Gender equality and taxation policies in the EU

Autonomous driving in European transport

One-minute speeches (Rule 163)

Plenary

Religion and Human Rights within the EU: A shared responsibility

Implementing the european Social Pillar: The Role of Churches and Religions

Attack against the Coptic cathedral in Cairo - freedom of religion and belief (debate)

Freedom of press and media in the world - Annual Report on human rights and democracy in the world 2012 and the European Union's policy on the matter - Promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief

Situation of Christians in the context of freedom of religion (debate)

Equal treatment of persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (debate)

The new rules enhance the integrity of election campaigns and help fight disinformation and foreign interference. The regulation requires political advertising to be clearly labelled, allowing citizens to see why they were targeted, who sponsored the ad, how much they paid and to which elections or referendum it pertains. Sponsoring ads from outside the EU is prohibited in the three-month period leading up to elections. All online political ads are available in an online ad repository. Under the new rules, separate and explicit consent must be obtained to use personal data for targeted ads, while the use of special categories of personal data (e.g. ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation) or minors’ data are banned. Closing statements by Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency and Sandro GOZI, Rapporteur.

Transparency and targeting of political advertising: Closing statements by Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency and Sandro GOZI, Rapporteur

The new rules enhance the integrity of election campaigns and help fight disinformation and foreign interference. The regulation requires political advertising to be clearly labelled, allowing citizens to see why they were targeted, who sponsored the ad, how much they paid and to which elections or referendum it pertains. Sponsoring ads from outside the EU is prohibited in the three-month period leading up to elections. All online political ads are available in an online ad repository. Under the new rules, separate and explicit consent must be obtained to use personal data for targeted ads, while the use of special categories of personal data (e.g. ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation) or minors’ data are banned. MEPs debate.

Transparency and targeting of political advertising: MEPs debate

The European Parliament has called for urgent action to counter hate speech and hate crime.     
MEPs say they should be added to the list of so-called Euro-crimes, meaning common standards and sanctions across the EU.     

They want to extend the current EU framework - which covers hatred based on race, skin colour, religion and ethnicity - to include sex, sexual orientation, age and disability.    
 
Parliament also called for measures to stop the internet and social media being used to spread hate.

MEPs call for tough EU-wide rules to tackle hate speech and hate crime

David SASSOLI, EP President, delivers a speech on the verticalization of power; constitutional and institutional aspects at the Meeting dell'Amicizia, Rimini, Italy. The Foundation Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples organizes a festival every year since 1980 at Rimini (Italy) with the participation of political personalities, managers, representatives of different religions and cultures, intellectuals and artists, athletes, and protagonists of the world scene.

Speech by David SASSOLI, EP President, on the verticalization of power; constitutional and institutional aspects

David SASSOLI, EP President meets with Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life. Christos STYLIANIDES, EC Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU joins the meeting.

David SASSOLI, EP President meets with Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the EC in charge of promoting our European Way of Life

Memoclip on Desmond TUTU. Desmond Tutu (born 7 October 1931) is a south african archbishop, emeritus of Cape Town and a Nobel peace laureate. He is a member of the Elders, a group of independent leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela who work for peace, justice and human rights.

Memoclip: Desmond TUTU, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Nobel Peace Prize laureate 1984

In today’s diverse Europe, many different churches, religions and philosophical organisations make an important contribution to society. The European Union institutions are committed to an open dialogue with these religious and non-confessional organisations, and the European Parliament actively engages with them on EU policies.

Welcome video message of the Vice-President Roberta METSOLA

This infoclip illustrates the visit of to the European Parliament on the 7 October 2020. Mgr Najeeb MICHAEEL, Archbishop of Mosul in Irak, ensured the evacuation of Christians, Syriacs and Chaldeans to Iraqi Kurdistan and safeguarded more than 800 historic manuscripts in 2014 when the Islamic State arrived in Mosul. This infoclip illustrates his visit to the European Parliament on 7 October 2020. He has been nominated for the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the ID Group.

Infoclip: Sakharov Prize 2020 - Najeeb MICHAEEL, Archbishop of Mosul - Iraq

This Infoclip illustrates: the distribution of free chocolate eggs to hospitals and retirement homes, in Brussels, Belgium.

Infoclip: Covid-19 - Distribution of free chocolate eggs to hospitals and retirement homes

During the plenary session (25-28 November 2019) of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, such as imprisonment of human rights defenders and freedom of religion in Algeria, Cuba, the case of José Daniel Ferrer and Haiti. Statements by Peter van DALEN (EPP, NL), Maria ARENA (S&D, BE), Salima YENBOU (Greens/EFA, FR), Leopoldo LÓPEZ GIL (EPP, ES), Nacho SÁNCHEZ AMOR (S&D, ES), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (RE, CZ), Ernest URTASUN (Greens/ALE, ES) and Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL).

Cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law: extracts from the debates

Teona Mitevska’s film ‘God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya’ has won the 2019 LUX Film Prize. The film examines what happens to a woman who throws herself – literally – into a man’s world. Set in Orthodox Christian Northern Macedonia, the film delves into themes of religion, women’s rights and the importance of tradition.

‘God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya’ wins the 2019 LUX Film Prize

‘Cold Case Hammarskjöld’, ‘The Realm’, and ‘God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya’ have been chosen as the three finalists of the European Parliament’s Lux Film Prize. This year’s films touch on political corruption, an investigation into a decades-old murder case and how feminism intersects with religion.

Political scandals and feminism in 2019 LUX Film Prize

This infoclip shows the religious principles of the Russian Orthodox Church. This video is part of the serie of infoclip "the religion throughout Europe".

Infoclip: The religion throughout Europe – Russian Orthodox Church

Andrzej GRZYB (EPP, PL), rapporteur, Anna ZÁBORSKÁ (EPP, PL), Ján FIGEĽ, Michiel HEMMINGA, Alice NEFFE and Miriam KUZÁROVÁ give a press conference on the freedom of religion or belief, in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Press conference on the Freedom of religion or belief by Andrzej GRZYB, Anna ZÁBORSKÁ, Ján FIGEĽ, Michiel HEMMINGA, Alice NEFFE and Miriam KUZÁROVÁ

Formal sitting on the occasion of 2008, European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Address by Asma JAHANGIR, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, United Nations Human Rights Council

2008, European Year of Intercultural Dialogue: Extract from the address by Asma JAHANGIR, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, United Nations Human Rights Council

Sunday religious service in a protestantism church and a baptism ceremony with children.

Infoclip: The religion throughout Europe - Protestantism

This infoclip illustrates a Christian service in a catholic church in Strasbourg.

Infoclip: The religion throughout Europe - Catholicism

This infoclip illustrates the practice of Buddhism Zen in a temple

Infoclip: The religion throughout Europe - Buddhism (1/2)

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