TMP’s European columnist looks at the intersection of religion and politics in the EU.

How we bridge the gap between religion and politics in a multi-cultural society is something that is being considered across Europe. I recently attended a meeting of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) in London where this issue was debated (see: www.londen.pvda.nl).

The Netherlands has an interesting history where the divide between Catholicism and Protestantism was a significant issue. Now, with a growing Muslim population, the balance between religion and the state has come to the fore again. The PvdA has argued strongly in favour of a separation of church and state in the past. However, today it is taking a more pragmatic approach in some areas, for example through supporting the founding of religious schools.

Across Europe the fault line between religion and politics has raised its head. In France the state is constitutionally secular and there was great debate about the wearing of the hijab in schools. In the UK the recent debate around Catholic adoption agencies, and whether they could be forced to treat a gay couple in the same way as a straight couple seeking to adopt provides another example.

In much of western Europe the traditional centre right parties call themselves Christian Democrats. This often leads to the main centre left party seeking to distance themselves from the church. This has lead to interesting results. In Spain the centre left pushed past a law allowing for gay marriage against a strong lobby from the Vatican. In Italy, the same issue has just pulled apart Prodi’s centre left governing coalition and new elections are now on the cards (Italian PM Romano Prodi is pictured, right, with the Pope).

There is clearly no one model as to how the state interacts with the church and religion in Europe, something that led to a heated debated as to whether the now defunct European constitution should include a reference to God. I am glad that it did not, as the interaction between religion and the state clearly varies so much. However there is a role for the EU in sharing knowledge about balancing this interaction. As our societies grow ever more multi-cultural it is vital that the state is seen to be fair to all religious groups, not favouring institutionalised religion over others. Examples from other European countries could help guide our politicians when they seek to address issues.

Anne Fairweather is TMP’s European columnist and a Prospective European Parliamentary Candidate for Labour in London.