Don't mention God, ministers tell EU policy makers

A push to have a reference to God in the draft constitution of the EU has foundered, after objections that an explicit mention of the deity would provoke division and controversy.

The opening articles of the proposed EU constitution will not mention God, under a decision taken yesterday by the "praesidium", or steering committee, of a convention charged with drawing up the text.

However, the proponents of a secular constitution may only have won a partial victory. The former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who is chairing the convention, remains keen to have a reference to Europe's religious identity written into a preamble.

M. Giscard, who recently visited the Vatican, has been asked to draft a constitution to be submitted to EU heads of government for approval. The question of whether to mention God in article two of the draft constitution, a section that deals with EU values, has polarised views. It has also been seen as a test of whether the EU, which has accepted Turkey as a candidate for membership, sees itself as a Christian club.

Advocates of a religious reference argue that a constitution should reflect the continent's religious heritage, and the campaign was backed by many members of the EU's conservative Christian Democratic parties.

Supporters include Ireland's ex-premier John Bruton, who pointed out that God is mentioned in the first sentence of the Irish constitution, and who told the Irish Independent that "for many people, including myself, our outlook is derived from the fact that I believe in God, so why shouldn't this be recognised?" The former Fine Gael leader said: "This would be a reference to the spiritual dimension of our lives. We don't just exist for material ends and there is something superior to humanity."

Other delegates, including politicians, from Germany, Italy Poland and Slovakia, lobbied for a phrase, adapted from the Polish constitution, which would argue that: "The Union's values include the values of those who believe in God as the source of truth, justice, good and beauty as well as those who do not share such a belief but respect these universal values arising from other sources."

In fact the text of article two, which will be published today, is expected to refer to a union "founded on the values of respect, of human dignity, democracy, the state of law, of liberty and the rights of man, values which are common to the member states and to the societies" of the EU.

Britain was among the member states that backed a secular approach and is likely to be happy with today's text. One diplomat argued: "There were a lot of objections to a reference to God. If you have to keep Christian, Muslims, agnostics and atheists happy, it is all a little difficult."

Any reference to the religious identity of the continent will have to tread carefully. References to the Christian religion would not be "inclusive" in an EU with a population drawn from many faiths.

Although the Vatican lobbied for a reference to God, its main priority is that the new constitution should not interfere with its special privileges. Germany, for example, hands over large sums of taxpayers' money to the Catholic and Protestant churches.