To all Friends everywhere We met in Brussels on 7-8 April 2017 as the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA’s) General Assembly of European Yearly Meeting representatives. Building on forty years of experience and support from Yearly Meetings, this was our first gathering since we changed our constitution and direction last October. This new […]
This year’s International Day of Peace has been marked by a joint statement by peacebuilding organisations from around the world. Click here to read Embracing the New Global Framework for Peace. The statement is focused on global agreements and resolutions and agreements that have taken place over the last year, that address the root causes […]
The 368th issue of Around Europe is dedicated to the theme of implication of Brexit on peace and peacebuilding in Europe. Written in the days after the referendum result the articles chart some of the major issues on themes of EU militarism, refugees and migration and the European arms trade. Click here to read Around […]
The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) has commented on the result of the UK’s EU membership referendum. QCEA has also provided a quiet space for reflection in Brussels since the result was announced. Leaving the EU “The UK has decided to step away from an organisation which acts as a mechanism for dialogue, and […]
The United Kingdom expects to hold a referendum on its membership of the European Union. The political debate is dominated by phoney conversations and over-simplifications. This creates a difficult environment for citizens to engage in this process. QCEA has compiled briefing papers intended to help Quakers and others reflect on their position with regard to […]
The European Union was founded as a peace project, but today elements of EU security policy are a danger to its own people. Few citizens are aware of the policies their governments champion at the EU level. Since 2013, EU policy has increasingly supported the arms trade, the perpetuation of militarism with countries affected by […]
In this issue of Around Europe, George Thurley discusses the development of a new EU circular economy proposal , and whether it will be more ambitious than the previous legislation. Tim Harman examines US attempts to rewrite international law to justify its actions, particularly its use of armed drones, and what the EU is doing, […]
QCEA has joined with churches and other organisations to write to Angela Merkel and François Hollande to thank them for their continued efforts to reduce the violence in Ukraine. In recent weeks Merkel and Hollande helped to broker a ceasefire agreement. The letter said that confidence-building measures, including humanitarian aid, will be important and called […]
In this issue of Around Europe, Sevasti Christoforou examines the issues of identifying, recording and addressing hate crime across the European Union, and the variance between EU Member States. George Thurley discusses how citizens and local governments can act as pioneers on climate and environment issues, bypassing necessary compromises at the national and European levels. Andrew […]