Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Berlusconi: Christianity in Constitution unlikely

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister and current head of the EU's rotating presidency, has said that it is unlikely that a mention of Christianity will find its way into Europe's Constitution.

Speaking on Friday (18 July) at a special ceremony for the handing over of the treaty blueprint, Mr Berlusconi said that four countries - Italy, Spain, Poland, Ireland - are pushing for a reference to Christianity.

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  • Italy, Spain, Ireland and Poland are all pushing for a mention of Christianity in the Constitution (Photo: European Commission)

"We will continue with this position, but seen realistically, I do not think that it will be accepted by the 25 EU member states", said the Italian Prime Minister at a joint press conference with Convention President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

Berlusconi to become boring

Mr Berlusconi, who also told Time Magazine that he would try and be "boring" for the remainder of this Presidency in an effort to counteract his turbulent beginning at the EU helm, went on to reassure Mr Giscard that, under Italy's presidency, the Constitution will not be fundamentally changed.

"We have to take care that this dossier is not re-opened and turned upside down", he said.

Meanwhile, for his part, Mr Giscard said "Our proposal goes, I think, as far as is possible in the political, social and cultural climate of Europe today".

He went on to add, "I am conscious of delivering into your hands and into those of your colleagues a precious and fragile object - I ask you to take the greatest care of it."

Member states will at the beginning of October start an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to fine tune the details of the draft Constitution.

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Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

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Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

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