CofE bishops press for a greener EU budget

As the European Commission continues its consultation on the EU Budget, bishops in the Church of England are pushing for a greener budget that will take as its basis the biblical principle of stewardship.

In a submission to the European Commission's Budget Review, the House of Bishops' Europe Panel chided the European Union for failing to provide sufficiently for the European common good, saying that the current budget does not match up to the EU's objectives.

"The dislocation between the stated aims and objectives of the EU and current budgetary allocations threaten the public legitimacy and credibility of the European project," say the bishops, who include the Bishop of St Albans and head of the Europe Panel, the Rt Rev Christopher Herbert.

When the consultation into the budget was launched following the May 2006 Inter-Institutional Agreement, the European Commission's president made the creation of a low carbon economy one of the spending priorities.

The House of Bishops' submission tells the EU to ditch current budget provisions that "sustain outdated industries and sectors that too often serve narrowly construed national interests".

Instead, it recommends that the EU budget support carbon reduction efforts: "Faced by the global challenge of climate change, the EU budget should be refocused in support of low carbon growth both within the EU's borders and beyond."

The bishops suggest that "a restructured budget would help to respond to the competitiveness concerns of a number of member states and reinforce the EU's position as the global front-runner on low carbon growth."

They go on to argue that "introducing a greener budget would have the wider support of EU citizens and would help to renew the EU's raison d'être".

The Europe Panel is a sub-committee of the House of Bishops and acts as point of reference for items affecting the Church of England's relations with Europe and the EU Institutions.

A report on the future reform of the EU Budget is due to be released later this year once the consultation has been completed.

The House of Bishops' submission comes as the Church of England continues to cement its relationship with the EU. This month, the Rev Dr Gary Wilton, a member of the Theology Department at York St John University, will take up the Church of England's newly created post of Representative to the EU Institutions, based in Brussels.

Dr Wilton said that the creation of the post was a significant development in relations between the Church of England and the EU that would allow the Church to contribute to important debates on Europe's approach to the development of community and care for the planet.

Bishop Herbert welcomed his appointment when it was announced in January, saying, "The Church of England must continue to increase its role in Europe in partnership with other churches so that together we can play our part in helping to shape the Europe of the future."