The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) is an international not-for-profit organisation which seeks to promote the values and political concerns of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(Quakers) at the European level. It undertakes research and advocacy in the fields of

peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and pol ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

policy, notably in relation to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

. Founded in 1979 by Quakers who worked in the European institutions, it is based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and is registered under Belgian law.

Work and issues

QCEA undertakes policy research, political advocacy and “ quiet diplomacy” on peacebuilding and human rights issues in the context of European politics. Its efforts currently focus on building support for nonviolent conflict resolution, shared security, and the human rights of

refugees in Europe A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

. In general, QCEA’s advocacy efforts focus on the European Union and the Council of Europe, where many of the political decisions relevant to its work are made. More generally, QCEA argues in favour of peaceful cooperation between European countries, and in defence of the European human rights framework established after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It hosts conferences and tours for Quakers from across Europe which explore these themes further. Prior to 2016, QCEA was also responsible for EU-level Quaker advocacy on matters such as

economic justice Justice in economics is a subcategory of welfare economics. It is a "set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions". Economic justice aims to create opportunities for every person to have a dignified, productive and creativ ...

and

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

Inter-institutional cooperation

QCEA is a member of several civil society working groups and umbrella organisations in Brussels, including the

European Peacebuilding Liaison Office European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) is the independent civil society platform of European NGOs, NGO networks and think tanks which are committed to peacebuilding, and the prevention of violent conflict. Mission statement The organisati ...

, the

Human Rights and Democracy Network The Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN) is an informal grouping of 43 NGOs operating at the EU-level in the broader areas of human rights, democracy and peacebuilding. It was created in 2004 and mainly operates in Brussels. Purpose HRDN a ...

, and the European NGO Platform on EU Asylum and Migration Policy. It also collaborates bilaterally with other NGOs on specific matters. QCEA also possesses “participatory status” at the

INGOs Conference of the Council of Europe The INGO (international non-governmental organisations) Conference is the body representing civil society in the Council of Europe, a European organisation founded in 1949. The Council of Europe has 47 member states with some 800 million citizens ...

, allowing it to contribute to the work of the Council in a formal capacity.

Structure

QCEA is established as a non-profit association under

Belgian law The legal system of Belgium is based on the Napoleonic code. The Napoleonic code is the French civil code which was issued between 1804 and 1810. It clearly presents the French legal system. Belgium’s constitution is influenced by earlier const ...

(''association international sans but lucratif / internationale vereniging zonder winstoogmerk''). Its ultimate decision-making body is its General Assembly, with a smaller Executive Committee empowered to make decisions. Support groups, which fundraise for QCEA and also participate in its governance, have been established in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

A small, informal Quaker presence in Brussels was already in existence in the 1970s, consisting of both locals and foreign bureaucrats living in the city. Motivated by both the increasing international profile of Brussels and the linguistic schism taking place in Belgium at the time, steps were taken to formalise this presence from 1975 onwards. The newly-established Brussels Monthly Meeting began issuing a regular newsletter, ''Around Europe'', still published today, which rapidly became a source of updates on European political developments for Quakers around the world. This galvanised support for a “Quaker International Affairs Representative” to be posted in Brussels, as well as for an associated body to oversee their work. To that end, QCEA was established in September 1979.

Quaker House Brussels

QCEA’s offices are located in the European Quarter in Brussels, close to the EU institutions and

Schuman metro station Schuman is a Brussels metro station in the City of Brussels, Belgium. It opened as a ''premetro'' (underground tram) station on 17 December 1969 and became a full metro station on 20 September 1976, serving former lines 1A and 1B. Following ...

. They occupy a townhouse on Square Ambiorix which was acquired shortly after QCEA’s foundation; it also serves as the main

Meeting House A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

for Quakers in Belgium and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. The building itself, built in the 1890s by the architect Georges Hobé, is a well-preserved example of ''

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

'' architecture and has protected heritage status.

External links

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaker Council For European Affairs Quaker organizations Lobbying organizations in Europe Cross-European advocacy groups Peace organisations based in Belgium International human rights organizations Organizations with participatory status with the Council of Europe