On 20 November 2018, members of the European Platform against Religious Intolerance and Discrimination (EPRID) sent a letter to all Members of the European Parliament in support of Mr. Andrzej Grzyb MEP’s Draft Report on EU Guidelines and the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU.

In the letter, EPRID shared the following recommendations and observations:

• that the person appointed is both in possession of and seen to be vested with real institutional credibility and power. For an effective implementation of the mandate, a strong and structural coordination and cooperation with the EU Special Representative on Human Rights, the EEAS, and DG Trade is crucial. It will be through appropriate normative and structural connection with the other priority areas of the EU that the mandate will succeed in supporting work done in humanitarian aid, refugees and dealing with conflict in the
  Middle East.ceed in supporting work done in humanitarian aid, refugees and dealing with conflict in the Middle East.

• Secondly, it is important that the mandate be for ongoing periods of three to five years, so that each appointee has sufficient time to implement projects in accordance with EU priorities.

• Thirdly, if the mandate is to be successfully performed, an adequate allocation of budget and staffing is needed. The allocations should take account of the needs for liaison with internal EU institutions and policy areas, the training and support of EU Delegations tasked with the promotion of FoRB, the implementation of the EU Guidelines on the
  promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief and continued dialogue with civil society. Without adequate allocation of resources, the mandate has the potential to fail over time or, possibly worse, for it to lapse into window dressing and tokenism at a time when real action is required of the
  European Union.

Click here to download the full letter (PDF).