The European Union and Religion

The Supranational Meets the Supernatural

Fearghas O'Beara

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781041084051
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040614761
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

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. The EU identifies as a community of values and seeks democratic legitimacy; it sees religions as carriers of values and sources of European identity, potentially aiding its state-building efforts. The book concludes by looking at what to expect of this engagement from the EU executive and legislature in the future. The book will be of interest to researchers and academics working in the areas of Law and Religion, Philosophy of Law, Constitutional Law, Sociology of Religion, Political Science, International Relations and European Studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of Acronyms and abbreviations
• Glossary
• 1 Introduction: Swimming against the tide – making sense of the EU’s plunge into the sacred pool
• 2 Scaling the walls of the EU’s secular citadel
• 3 The sacred meets the secular: Assault from all sides on European laïcité
• 4 Ground operations: Three stories from the frontline of EU-religion engagement
• 5 The rules of engagement: The EU’s sui generis religion-state model
• 6 The shape of things to come: Religion in EU and global governance
• Annex I: Number of expert interviews conducted by institution or organisation
• Annex II: List of experts interviewed, by institutional function
• Annex III: Religious or philosophical organisations inscribed in the EU Transparency Register
• Index