Study suggests religions play key role in women’s attitude to the EU

Date: 18/09/1997

By Leyla Linton

THE legacy of religion and gender is undermining the development of a common European identity, according to a Norwegian professor who is seeking EU funding for her research.

Professor Kari Elisabeth Børresen of Oslo University believes that a north/south split in the EU can be explained by the different roles women have historically played in the Protestant and Catholic churches.

Børresen, herself a Catholic, theorises that traditional Christian gender models are more influential in so-called Catholic or Mediterranean countries, where women's position in society is ascribed by the value system of the church and related to the private sphere of the family.

In contrast, she contends that in Protestant or Northern countries women have increasingly achieved an independent position in the public sphere, because the value system of the churches has been overtaken by that of the nation-state.

She feels that this religious difference leads to a split in the way women identify with the Union. “It will be difficult to develop a common European identity based on the harmonisation of culture and socio-political rights, since women in Protestant countries have a much stronger identification with the nation-state than women in Catholic countries, who have little to lose from the transfer of political power from the state to the European Union,” she argues.

Børresen points to low numbers of female MEPs from France, which she describes as “unbelievable”, and the fact that 95&percent; of women in Norway voted against the entry of their country into the EU, as examples of how the historic development of gender and religion can have an impact on Europe today.

Union politicians and officials recognise this as a problem, but do not know how to deal with it, claims Børresen, which leads her to ask how she can be of use.

“They instinctively know it's very serious. The sexual and religious drives are two of the most serious and they are afraid to touch them,” she says.

Børresen is now exploring the possibility of getting funding under the Fifth Framework Programme for research and development under the heading of “improving human potential”.

She was originally told that religion fell outside the scope of the programme, but after meeting Commission officials in July and explaining the socio-cultural importance of her work, she feels it could be looked upon favourably, particularly by MEPs.

Describing herself as pro-European, Børresen says the divisions she perceives in Europe are “absurd”, adding: “We must have a unification of Europe.”