The European Union and Religion: The Supranational Meets the Supernatural (ICLARS Series on Law and Religion)

This book takes a multidisciplinary approach to explore why the EU increased its entanglement with religion while many Member States - particularly in Western Europe - were decreasing theirs.It explains the complex relationship between two parallel evolving socio-political phenomena - European integration and secularisation - by drawing from the disciplines of constitutional law, sociology of religion, political science, and International Relations.Qualitative evidence was obtained through interviews with officials of the EU Commission, Parliament and External Action Service working on religious engagement, as well as with the EU’s key religious partner organisations. The author draws together evidence from these diverse sources to describe the EU’s sui generis religion-state model, distinct from Member State ones.The book shows the EU operates pragmatically, free of ideological or historical constraints, and positively views ethical contributions to its policies and laws from religion