The Church and Society Commission is the result of the merger of CEC's work on church and society issues and the European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society (EECCS), which was completed on 1 January 1999.

Its task is

• to help the churches study church and society questions from a theological and social ethical perspective, especially those with a European dimension;
• to represent the member churches of CEC in their relations with political institutions working in Europe.

Its work programme was adopted by a joint meeting of the Central Committee of CEC and the General Assembly of EECCS in September 1998.

A major aspect of the Commission's work is through its Working Groups. It provides the Secretariat for the European Community programme: A Soul for Europe: Ethics and Spirituality.

Working Groups of the Commission

Bioethics: Studying issues raised by the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and bioethical and biotechnological questions coming out of the work and legislation of the European Community.
Previous and current work on bio-ethics:
EECCS and Bioethics (position paper, June 1998)
Cloning Animals and Humans (position paper, May 1998)
Therapeutic Uses of Cloning and Embryonic Stem Cells (position paper, September 2000)
Medically Assisted Procreation and the Protection of the Human Embryo (position paper, 1996)
Medically Assisted Procreation after 20 years (position paper, 1998)
Critique of the Draft EC Patenting Directive (position paper, October 1996)
Patenting of Biotechnological Inventions (position paper, March 1998)
Patentability of the Human Genome (letter to EU Council of Ministers, June 2000)

Economic, Environmental and Social Issues: Examining the relationship between the economic system and environmental and social policies, especially with regard to the specific policies of the European institutions and economies in transition.
Papers by former EECCS:
The dominant economic model and sustainable development: are they compatible? - June 1995
Sustainable development and the market economy: integrating environment in EU-economic and employment policies. - January 2000

European Community Legislation: Responding to European Community legislation which may have a direct impact on the life and work of the churches, including legislation against discrimination and the proposed European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.

European Integration: Helping the churches to reflect on the process of European integration and to respond to questions linked with the enlargement of the European Union, the reform of the Union's institutions and future relationships between European countries inside and outside the Union.

Human Rights and Religious Freedom: Promoting study and action by the churches on questions of human rights and religious freedom, including the relationship between church and state.

North-South Issues: Ensuring that the common witness of the European churches is not confined to Europe, by looking at the wider global context of trade, aid and development policies, debt relief and the negotiations within world bodies such as the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Peace Building in Security: Treating questions such as the security architecture of Europe, conflict prevention and resolution, arms control, terrorist and paramilitary groups, common and comprehensive security, ethnicity, religion and conflict.