Religion at the European Parliament and in European multi-level governance

François Foret is Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium. He is also director for political research at the Institute for European Studies at ULB and a researcher at the Centre d’Etude de la Vie Politique (CEVIPOL). He is Senior Associate Fellow at the Von Hugel Institute, St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, UK.

• 1. Introduction – ‘Religion at the European Parliament’: Purposes, scope and limits of a survey on the religious beliefs of MEPs 2. Religion at the European Parliament: an overview Part I: Smooth Transition from National Conciliation to European Bargain? 3. A social role for churches and cultural demarcation: how German MEPs represent religion in the European Parliament 4. ‘A nation of vicars and merchants’: religiosity and Dutch MEPs 5. Consulting and compromising: the (non-)religious policy preferences of British MEPs Part II: Master at Home, Embattled in Brussels? 6. French MEPs and religion: Europeanising ‘laïcité’? 7. Defenders of faith? Victims of secularisation? Polish politicians and religion in the European Parliament 8. Religion at the European Parliament: the Italian case Part III: In Transit: From Religious Stronghold to Liberal Laboratory 9. Austrian MEPs: between privatization and politicisation of religion 10. Politics and religion beyond state borders: the activity of Spanish MEPs on religious issues Part IV: So Far, Not So Dissimilar: European 'Exceptionalism' Challenged by Other Western Cases 11. Religion in the Israeli Parliament: a typology 12. Religion in the American Congress: the case of the US House of Representatives, 1953-2003 Conclusion 13. Conclusion