Agenda Europe
{{Short description|European conservative extremist organization}}
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Agenda Europe is a European umbrella organization of more than 100 organizations that "casts gay marriage, trans rights, reproductive freedom, and LGBTQI anti-discrimination efforts as assaults on Christianity"{{Cite news |last=Butler |first=Judith |date=2021-10-23 |title=Why is the idea of 'gender' provoking backlash the world over? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2021/oct/23/judith-butler-gender-ideology-backlash |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} and seeks to promote conservative extremist positions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.epfweb.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/online_epf_italiano_definitivo_compressed.pdf|title="Ristabilire l'Ordine Naturale": la visione degli estremisti religiosi per mobilitare le società europee contro i diritti umani in materia di sessualità e riproduzione.}}{{Cite web|date=2019-05-24|title=Restoring the Natural Order|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524024801/https://www.epfweb.org/sites/epfweb.org/files/rtno_epf_book_lores.pdf|access-date=2021-09-25|url=https://www.epfweb.org/sites/epfweb.org/files/rtno_epf_book_lores.pdf|website=epfweb.org|archive-date=2019-05-24}}{{Cite web|title=New book exposes European religious network intent on overturning laws related to sexuality and reproduction|url=https://www.epfweb.org/node/302|access-date=2021-09-25|website=www.epfweb.org|language=nl}}{{Cite journal|last1=Graff|first1=Agnieszka|last2=Kapur|first2=Ratna|last3=Walters|first3=Suzanna Danuta|date=2019-03-01|title=Introduction: Gender and the Rise of the Global Right|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/701152|journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society|volume=44|issue=3|pages=541–560|doi=10.1086/701152|s2cid=150566008 |issn=0097-9740}}
Agenda Europa was created in 2013 based on strict criteria of secrecy. Its specifics were only revealed in 2017 when multiple documents emerged regarding the project's operations, participants, goals, and funding.
History
= Beginning =
Agenda Europa was created in January 2013 out of a meeting that took place in London involving, approximately, 20 North American and European anti-abortion leaders and strategic advisors who aimed to "develop a Christian-inspired European think tank" and "devise new strategies for European anti-abortion movements."{{Cite web|date=2019-03-19|title=Il presunto manifesto del Congresso delle famiglie di Verona|url=https://www.open.online/2019/03/19/il-presunto-manifesto-del-congresso-delle-famiglie-di-verona/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Open|language=it-IT}}{{Cite web|date=2019-03-23|title="Ristabilire l'Ordine Naturale", cosa sappiamo del documento che punta a togliere libertà a donne e Lgbtq+|url=https://www.open.online/2019/03/23/ristabilire-lordine-naturale-cosa-sappiamo-del-documento-che-punta-a-togliere-liberta-a-donne-e-lgbtq/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Open|language=it-IT}}
Organized jointly by the Austrian conservative and Catholic activist Gudrun Kugler{{cite web|url=https://iti.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/user_upload/Academic-Life/Academic_CV_KUGLER_Gudrun_Web.pdf|access-date=7 April 2023|website=iti.ac.at|title=CV Kugler, Gudrun}} and the American Terrence McKeegan{{cite web|url=http://neumannschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Donor-info-copy.pdf|access-date=7 April 2023|website=neumannschool.org|title=Donor info}} {{dead link|date=April 2023}} the London retreat was to be "strictly confidential". Documents later unearthed stated that "this program should not be forwarded for any reason without the permission of the organizers."
In the early days of Agenda Europe Peadar O'Scolai from the Irish organization Family & Life, asked participants to identify "achievable goals for the pro-life movement," while Gudrun Kugler dedicated herself to "developing a pan-European think tank to reflect Christian values" noting that "there is no Christian-inspired think tank in Europe to analyze current trends, to develop responses, arguments, alternatives, and to define languages. Such complex topics are left to non-governmental organizations or a few legislators to solve on their own."
= Development =
In 2013, an anonymous blog titled "Agenda Europe" appeared, covering news and developments in European politics while harshly criticizing legal and political developments in the area of human rights regarding, inter alia, the right to life, marriage and family, equality, and the freedom of conscience or religion. sexuality and reproduction. The blog quickly became a focal point for traditionalist perspectives in this arena.{{Cite web|title=Private Site|url=https://agendaeurope.wordpress.com/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=agendaeurope.wordpress.com}}
In the summer of 2017, some documents regarding the organization became publicly available when anonymous computer hackers hacked the computers of the Spanish NGO HazteOir and published the stolen documents on Wikileaks. These documents were then used for a documentary by Franco-German ArteTV, broadly featuring pro-abortion activist Neil Datta (founder of a group called European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, EPF), allowing him to present his (critical) views. These documents included details of the aforementioned founding meeting that took place in 2013, the name chosen for the organizational center, the subsequent yearly meetings of the board, a list of social networking experts with whom the group intended to act on the internet, and a manifesto entitled "Restoring the Natural Order: an Agenda for Europe." Datta was also the author of a series of brochures subsequently published and distributed by EPF with the purpose of informing the public about "Agenda Europe", which was painted as a dangerous conspirative network with links to the Kremlin as well as the European High aristocarcy and the broad purpose of "rolling back women's rights".
= Participants =
The hacked documents mentioned above appeared to reveal that up to that point, Agenda Europa's board numbered about 100–150 individuals (including many political leaders and government officials from across Europe) and at least 50 conservative organizations.
The organization can also count on the support of some senior Catholic prelates; an example can be seen at the 2014 annual conference when properties used for spiritual retreats were given to participants by the Archdiocese of Munich.{{Cite web|title=Schloss Fürstenried|url=https://www.erzbistum-muenchen.de/ordinariat/ressort-5-bildung/schloss-fuerstenried|access-date=2021-09-25|website=www.erzbistum-muenchen.de|language=de}}
= Financing =
According to EPF, the group can count on numerous funds from organizations belonging to: billionaires, aristocrats and oligarchs. Among the names quoted are:
- Patrick Slim Domit, son of multi-billionaire{{Cite web|title=Patrick Slim Domit, Grupo Sanborns SA de CV: Profile and Biography|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/2101385|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Bloomberg.com|language=en}} Carlos Slim Helú is one of the biggest funders of anti-abortion movements in Mexico and around the world.
- Archduke Imre and his wife, Archduchess Kathleen, representing the Habsburg-Lorraine family (Austria's last imperial family), who have lent their patronage to many of the group's initiatives (the family's wealth is between $63 million and $207 million).
- Oliver Hylton, who was the wealth manager of financier Sir Michel Hintze (a tycoon with assets of $2.6 billion{{Cite web|title=Michael Hintze|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-hintze/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Forbes|language=en}} known in the news for his funding of propaganda groups related to global warming denialism).
- Alexey Komov, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, is sponsored by the far-right multimillionaire oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, was in charge of the foundation's international projects.
= Strategy =
Like any other lobby group, the group acts through: political lobbying, referendum campaigns, petitions and information actions.
To more effectively convey their demands against secularization and cultural revolutions far from their positions, the organization aims to: impute to those who support instances diametrically opposed to theirs that they are discriminating and intolerant towards Christians or that they are Christianophobic by portraying themselves as victims, bring their proposals under the name of "rights" and not "restrictions" or "prohibitions", label their opponents as violent and themselves as "anti-system" trying to become respectable interlocutors at the international level.
= Operation =
The group has drafted many campaigns to influence legislation in different countries and some of the most important include:
- The petition and referendum to ban same-sex marriage in the Croatian constitution (2013; successful){{Cite web|date=2013-12-02|title=La Croazia ha vietato i matrimoni gay|url=http://www.ilpost.it/2013/12/02/croazia-referendum-matrimoni-gay/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Il Post|language=it-IT}}
- A bill to limit the right to abortion in Spain (2014; failure: revoked in September 2014){{Cite web|date=2014-05-12|title=Spain: Abortion Bill Violates Rights|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/12/spain-abortion-bill-violates-rights|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}
- The petition and referendum to restrict same-sex marriage in Slovenia (2015; successful){{Cite web|title=Slovenia: Same-Sex Marriage Law Rejected by Voters|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2015-12-23/slovenia-same-sex-marriage-law-rejected-by-voters/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Library of Congress}}
- The complaint against Sweden for failure to respect conscientious objection in the area of reproductive health (2015–2017; failure: all requests rejected){{Cite web|date=2017-01-10|title=Aborto, l'obiezione di coscienza nel mondo: in Svezia e Finlandia non esiste, in Italia le percentuali più alte|url=http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2017/01/10/aborto-lobiezione-di-coscienza-nel-mondo-in-svezia-e-finlandia-non-esiste-in-italia-le-percentuali-piu-alte/3190037/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Il Fatto Quotidiano|language=it-IT}}
- The referendum to restrict same-sex marriage in Slovakia (2015; failure: quorum not reached){{Cite web|title=Slovak Republic: Effort to Ban Same-Sex Marriage Fails|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2015-02-12/slovak-republic-effort-to-ban-same-sex-marriage-fails/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Library of Congress}}
- A Polish bill to ban abortion with prison sentences for women (2016; failure: rejected by Parliament in October 2016){{Cite web|date=2016-10-03|title=Women to go on strike in Poland in protest at planned abortion law|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/02/women-to-go-on-strike-in-poland-abortion-law|access-date=2021-09-25|website=the Guardian|language=en}}
- A "Mom, Dad & Kids" initiative to define marriage in Europe as only "between a man and a woman" (2016; failure: insufficient signatures collected){{Cite web|title="Mum, Dad and Kids" European Citizens Initiative|url=https://wucwo.org/index.php/en/activities/regional-news/europe/regional-news/792-mum-dad-and-kids-european-citizens-initiative|access-date=2021-09-25|website=wucwo.org}}
- Political lobbying against the ratification of the Istanbul Convention for Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland (2016–2018; success in Bulgaria{{Cite web|date=2018-07-27|title=Bulgaria Court says 'Istanbul Convention' Violates Constitution|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2018/07/27/bulgaria-s-constitutional-court-says-istanbul-convention-not-in-line-with-basic-law-07-27-2018/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Balkan Insight|language=en-US}} and failure in Croatia{{Cite web|date=2019-03-21|title=Croazia. Entrata in vigore la Convenzione di Istanbul|url=http://lavoce.hr/politica/2286-croazia-entrata-in-vigore-la-convenzione-di-istanbul|access-date=2021-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321011302/http://lavoce.hr/politica/2286-croazia-entrata-in-vigore-la-convenzione-di-istanbul|archive-date=2019-03-21 |last1=Rogić |first1=Marin }} and Poland{{Cite web|last=Amiel|first=Sandrine|date=2021-04-01|title=Poland moves a step closer to quitting domestic violence treaty|url=https://www.euronews.com/2021/04/01/istanbul-convention-poland-moves-a-step-closer-to-quitting-domestic-violence-treaty|access-date=2021-09-25|website=euronews|language=en}})
- Petition and referendum to ban egalitarian marriage in Romania (2016–2018; success: 3 million signatures collected; failure: quorum not reached){{Cite web|date=2018-09-17|title=Romania is holding a vote on whether to permanently ban gay marriage|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/romania-gay-marriage-ban-referendum-vote-lgbt-rights-a8541461.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220506/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/romania-gay-marriage-ban-referendum-vote-lgbt-rights-a8541461.html |archive-date=2022-05-06 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-25|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{cbignore}}
= Yearly meetings =
The program of the meetings follows a set formula: participants are offered a reception at which an opening speech is made usually by a politician such as Jakob Cornides, then administrator of the European Commission, or Rocco Buttiglione, then an Italian member of parliament, or Aleksander Stępkowski, then deputy foreign minister of Poland. This is followed by a Mass celebration and a two-day seminar with a format that varies from plenary presentations to the creation of thematic working groups related to the group's instances and progress.
References
{{Reflist}}
Category:Anti-abortion organizations
Category:Opposition to same-sex marriage in Europe
Category:2013 establishments in Europe
Category:Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Europe
Category:Far-right politics in Europe
Category:Lobbying organizations in Europe