Action of Churches’ Together in Scotland (ACTS), in collaboration with the European Commission, arranged a visit for senior Scottish Church representatives to meet with the European Commission, Scottish MEPs, the Scottish Parliament office at the European Commission, the Conference of European Churches and the Churches’ Commission on Migrants in Europe from 5-7 April 2016
The 18 senior Scottish Church representatives were very warmly welcomed by all with whom they met as the visit took place just two weeks after the airport and Metro bombings. Whilst security was incredibly tight the visitors were very impressed by the way in which the citizens of Brussels were getting on with life as usual. Therefore, there was an extra resonance to the discussions because of that context.
Many issues were presented and discussed such as economics, poverty alleviation, fair trade, climate change, development, the rural economy, foreign policy, human rights, human trafficking, migration and the refugee crisis. The Church’s role in assisting refugees at the point of entry into Europe was acknowledged and appreciated.
The Church in Society Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church is engaged with a number of these issues and thus the Scottish Episcopal Church was represented on this visit by the Rev David Mumford and Elspeth Davey, Church Relations Officer.
