Website: Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE)

COMECE is the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community. It is made up of Bishops delegated by the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of the European Union and it has a permanent Secretariat in Brussels.

There are 24 delegate bishops from the Bishops' Conferences in the EU: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, England & Wales, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scandinavia, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain – and the Archdiocese of Luxembourg.

Croatia and Switzerland have associate status.

Objectives
- To monitor and analyse the political process of the European Union
- To inform and raise awareness within the Church of the development of EU policy and legislation
- To promote reflection, based on the Church's social teaching, on the challenges facing a united Europe

Structure
The Bishops meet twice a year in plenary session. The Apostolic Nuncio to the European Communities also participates in the plenary meetings.

The plenary meeting sets out the main lines of work for the COMECE Secretariat. An Executive Committee, consisting of the President, two Vice-Presidents and the Secretary General, ensures continuity between plenary meetings.

COMECE is funded by the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union.

Historical background
COMECE was launched on 3 March 1980 and was preceded by the European Catholic Pastoral Information Service (SIPECA, 1976-1980). Discussions during the 1970s about creating an instrument of liaison between the Bishops' Conferences and the European Community led to the decision, on the eve of the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, to establish COMECE.

• Primary Source

Website: Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) http://www.ccee.ch/

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