Giving meaning to the EU?: the contribution of convictional lobbying to the emergence of a European civil religion

This thesis investigates the lobbying of religious and philosophical organizations to the EU with regard to the emergence of a European civil religion. First, it proves that convictional organizations unlike usual lobbying groups do not solely defend the individual interest of a reference group or a referred object. Instead they address the common good by defining and promoting convictions and beliefs according to their ideological backgrounds. Second, it states a consensus of certain convictions and beliefs shared by all organizations and concludes that convictional lobbying on the EU level contributes to the emergence of a European civil religion.:1. Introduction 2. Civil religion 3. Convictional lobbying in the EU 4. Analyses 5. Discussion 6. Conclusion 7. Literature 8. Anne