The ISKCON Communications Europe Executive Committee (ICE EC) members met for the second time this year in Brussels to meet representatives of European Union Institutions and European faith communities. The meetings aimed to establish contacts, develop trust and cooperation, and specifically organize an interfaith conference on Religion and the Environment at the European Parliament in the autumn of 2023. 

The ICE EC members are Mahaprabhu Dasa from Belgium as the chair, Hrishikesha Dasa from Latvia, Kamala Priya Devi Dasi from Sweden, and Parabhakti Dasa from Italy. 

Their first meeting in Brussels was in January 2023, when the ICE EC met with the Director of the European Jewish Centre and a representative of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter-day Saints. At the recent second meeting in March, they met with an expert from the European Catholic Church Advocacy Body called COMECE (composed of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of all Member States of the European Union) and a Muslim organization called EDARA. All showed great interest in cooperating or becoming co-organizer of the future conference. 

The ICE EC also met with Mr. Oliver Schuster, the advisor to the First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mr. Othmar Karas. Mr. Karas is responsible for implementing Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 17 states that the EU institutions must engage in a regular structured and transparent dialogue with representatives of churches and religious organizations or non-confessional philosophical organizations. Mr. Schuster was open to our idea and will bring it to Mr. Karas’s attention.