Europska unija i pravo kršćana na slobodu vjere: Analiza učinka EU smjernica o promicanju i zaštiti slobode vjere ili uvjerenja u odnosu na izvješća Opservatorija o diskriminaciji i netoleranciji prema kršćanima u Europi

• Main Author: Ivana Bendra
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Catholic Faculty of Theology Đakovo 2018-12-01
• Series: Diacovensia
• Subjects: discrimination and intolerance of Christians; Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe; EU Guidelines; human rights policy; equality laws
• Online Access: https://hrcak.srce.hr/214074

The European Union represents itself as a community of countries that pays great attention to the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion. With the intent to improve the implementation of the human rights policy, both within individual member states as well as their activities in the foreign policy, in 2013 it has issued EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief. On the other hand, it is more frequently pointed out that individual member states of the European Union, but also the European Union itself, as a political community, are confronted with various forms of religious discrimination and intolerance that violate the right to freedom of religion of the members of the biggest religious group in the European Union, the Christians. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show whether the EU Guidelines have had a positive impact on dealing with the noted violation of the rights of Christians to freedom of religion in the European Union. This will be shown based on the analysis of the report of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe and by dividing the cases before (2005-2012) and after the issue of EU Guidelines (2013-2017). Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that the European Union, despite the EU Guidelines, is still faced with a violation of the right of Christians to freedom of religion. Difficulties in resolving the primary areas of action, set out in the EU Guidelines, are most often the result of their collision with respect for other human rights and the adoption of laws for the promotion and protection of equality, especially gender equality, which consequently negatively reflect on the right of Christians to freedom of religion.