The European Advocacy Academy (EAA), a four-day conference organised by the European Dignity Watch, an NGO founded in 2010 to defend the “three pillars of every society: life, the family and fundamental freedoms” is to begin today in Brussels. 70 journalists, political advisors, young academics, and NGO leaders from 28 European countries will participate in the conference, which - the organisers explained - “is the first part of a high-level political training program”. The topics for discussion include how to influence the EU institutions, human rights language and policies, and the rise of secularism in Europe. “Participants share a common vision of life and society” whose “core values” are “freedom and responsibility, justice, subsidiarity, the importance of a strong civil society based on the family” and are convinced of the “urgent need of understanding the European dimension of these crucial issues that are not only at the centre of policies and legislation, but also at the heart of the crisis”. Hence there is a need to create “a strong European network”. The Brussels module will conclude with a meeting with the vice-president of the European Parliament, Lazslo Surjan, and with one of the advisors to the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, on the dialogue with religions and civil society. The second module, on the Council of Europe and the European Court system, will be held in Strasbourg in April.

16/03/2012 -