The Rules of Engagement: Identifying the Defining Features of the European Union’s Sui Generis Model of Religion-State Relations
Fearghas O’Beara is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Religion, Human Values, and International Relations at Dublin City University and is head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland. This post is based on chapter 5 of his book The European Union and Religion: The Supranational Meets the Supernatural (Routledge 2026).
On 1 July 2026, Ireland took over from Cyprus the six-monthly rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, convening and presiding over the governments of the 27 EU member states until the end of 2026. On 7 July, Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin, presented his government’s legislative program to the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, under three broad themes indicative of the current challenges facing the Union in an increasingly volatile geo-political context: competitiveness, security, and values. Two days later Prime Minister Martin met at Government Buildings in Dublin to discuss this program with representatives of Europe’s main Christian churches.