The Churches have had an exchange of views with the six-month EU presidency, as is customary at the start of each semester. The debate on the priorities on the agenda of the German Presidency took place in Brussels today between, on the one hand, a delegation of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and, on the other, Michael Clauss, German Ambassador to the EU. “The delegation called on the new EU Presidency to renew the commitment towards the European project and its common values”, a statement from CEC and COMECE reads. The two bodies presented a joint 11-page contribution “featuring EU Churches’ thematic reflections, proposals and policy recommendations addressing, also in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the programme of the German EU Presidency”. The document highlights the need for “the EU and its Member States, together with Churches and religious communities as well as civil society stakeholders, to collaborate in order to make Europe not only stronger but more innovative, just and sustainable”. Today’s dialogue in Brussels was a “preparatory step” leading up to the “high level” meeting of the Churches with Mr. Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe, which will be held in Berlin on 27 October.