The General Secretary of the Church of Sweden, Leni Björklund and representatives of the Christian Council of Sweden have had a meeting today the Minister of state Mona Sahlin.

The reason for this meeting was the current review of the legal provision against discrimination, which is a consequence of two new directives issued by the EU. The Church of Sweden made its views clear to the government on the issue of whether or not it is possible for a church or denomination to consider membership as a requirement for employment within its structures and organisations.

"On some occasions the Ombudsman against Discrimination has questioned the right of the Church of Sweden to require membership when making appointments to particular posts. In our view the EU-directives allow certain opportunities for the national legislator to include provisions by which a religious denomination would be permitted to require membership without such a requirement being deemed discriminatory. We would like to see the application of those opportunities within the framework of this directive", says the Church of Sweden General Secretary, Leni Björklund.

"It is however important for us in the Church of Sweden that we ourselves, on the basis of our Confession, are permitted to determine which appointments to which posts should include such a requirement. In our view, everyone who works in the church, elected representatives, employed members of staff and volunteers are equally important for the carrying out of our work.

"In a modern team, it is important that everyone should be able to work in the team spirit", Leni Björklund says. That implies a degree of flexibility about particular tasks, and it is therefore impossible to make divisions between different types of employment, some of which would always include the requirement of membership and other types which would not do so", Leni Björklund reflects.

On the other hand, Leni Björklund thinks, there must obviously be room for an employer to determine each case on its own merits, and the Church of Sweden Church Order does allow for exemption from the basic requirement of membership in some cases.

"I would like to stress that the Church of Sweden is keen to contribute to the abolishment of discrimination in every form", Leni Björklund. "Our work should be marked by the openness expected from the Church of Sweden as an "open national church".

"The meeting today was very positive, and Mona Sahlin showed much sympathy for our views", Leni Björklund says. Mona Sahlin also expressed her view that the Church of Sweden, as well as other denominations, should be included in the group of experts that will be appointed as a support group for the parliamentary working group that will be set up to work on these issues.