EU/GERMANY: EU has condoned religious discrimination in tenders from Germany for 12 years (2)
On 26 February, it was the 12th anniversary of the EU Directive on Procurement.
For years, the EU has hidden its head in the sand to avoid seeing and hearing the reality but the UN heard and filed an oral statement on this issue.
Part I
By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (23.03.2026) – As of 12 February 2026, at least 3804 public tenders had been submitted by Germany as recorded by the EU and published by the EU Tenders Transparency Portal despite their outwardly discriminatory nature, as they exclude German citizens professing a specifically identified faith.
What is excluded here from the bidding process is not the Church of Scientology. It is German citizens who have the right to have the beliefs they have, and not to be excluded from work and public life for it.
A person is de facto ineligible if he/she answers the explicit question about her affiliation with the Church of Scientology with a YES. Skipping the question is a case of ineligibility. Believing in the theology and philosophies of Scientology is also a case for a de facto exclusion from the competition. To recant or to lie? That is the question.
Cleaning staff religiously filtered and discriminated against
The peculiarity of the EU questionably condoned tenders is that they contain a “Bidder’s declaration of protection” (Scientology Schutzerklärung) obliging them to reveal that they do not belong to a specific religious or belief community although it is legally registered in Germany as an association protected by article 4 of the Basic Law. In the concrete case of a project involving the recruitment of cleaning staff in Munich (Bavaria), it is forbidden to use the methods of L. Ron Hubbard ! Here is a part of the Scientology Declaration of Protection:
The Bidder undertakes that, both at present and throughout the term of the contract, it does not use, teach or otherwise disseminate the technology of L. Ron Hubbard, that it does not attend any courses or seminars based on this technology, and that it does not allow employees or any other persons engaged in the performance of the contract to attend any courses or seminars based on this technology. Furthermore, the Bidder warrants that, to the best of its knowledge, none of the persons engaged in the performance of the Contract applies, teaches or otherwise disseminates the technology of L. Ron Hubbard, or attends courses or seminars based on this technology. Furthermore, the Tenderer undertakes to immediately exclude from further performance of the Contract any persons engaged in the performance of the Contract who, during the term of the Contract, apply, teach or otherwise disseminate the technology of L. Ron Hubbard, or attend courses or seminars based on this technology.
As far as it is known, L. Ron Hubbard has never formulated a specific philosophy of life or engineering in the field of cleaning.
Noteworthy is that this particular religious or belief community is not and has never been identified as a threat by the Office of the Protection of the Constitution. In November 2008 the German secret services stated there was large agreement among agencies that there was no threat posed by Scientology, as it was reported by Deutsche Welle in an article titled “Scientology-Verbot vom Tisch” (Scientology ban off the table).
Moreover, that community is legally registered in most European countries and has won court cases on the basis of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Freedom of Religion or Belief) in EU member states such as… Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain or Sweden.
One can wonder why a mechanism filtering the religion or the beliefs for bidders is also needed for “advanced services in preparation for the construction of the future excavation pit shoring for the new center at the Nuremberg Clinic” (Ref. 598098-2024), or for the “supply of electrical energy for Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH in 2025 and 2026” (Ref. 637171-2024).
One can wonder what the religious affiliation of the bidders has to do with the EU tenders and why the EU endorses this discrimination instead of rejecting the questionable German applications.
See the Report of CAP / Liberté de conscience presented at the UN in Geneva in February 2026:
About the magnitude of the issue: over 3804 discriminatory tenders
Statistics about tenders from 2014 to 2025 submitted to a discriminatory filter, show: 81 in 2014, 156 in 2015, 157 in 2016, 163 in 2017, 215 in 2018, 284 in 2019 294 in 2020, 370 in 2021, 432 in 2022, 464 in 2023, 621 in 2024, 514 in 2025 and up until 12th February 2026, 53 more, Total: 3804. (*)
This systemic discrimination violating the Directive 2014/24/EU of 26 February 2014 for 12 years and its magnitude are, however, well-known as the information about contracts above 140,000 EUR is public.
The Directive on public procurement provides in its first paragraph that “The award of public contracts by or on behalf of Member States’ authorities has to comply with the principles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and in particular (…) equal treatment, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, proportionality and transparency.”
The European Parliament and the EU Council repeatedly insisted on these values in the Introduction of the Directive (Par. 68, 90 & 114) and “Articles 18, 30 & 40.
Some red flags for the EU
Under the GDPR, forcefully collecting personal data such as religious or philosophical beliefs is prohibited. Financial Auditors have the power to question the legality of the existence of the “Form 2496.”
An applicant for an EU contract who would have been declared ineligible because of his personal beliefs could go to court and challenge the legality of the procurement procedure.
In Germany, the Federal Administrative Court ruled in April 2022 that a public “protective declaration” requirement—tied to access to a municipal subsidy—amounted to a targeted interference with constitutionally protected freedom of belief, including the negative freedom not to disclose one’s convictions. (April 6, 2022 Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG 8 C 9.21)
That kind of domestic judgment does not automatically lead to an EU audit but it can strengthen the evidentiary record that can be used to litigate.
UN and OSCE involvement
The most recent advocacy on this issue at the UN in Geneva dates back to 8 February 2026 when CAP / Liberté de conscience presented its Report to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression:
The issue was also presented at the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference on 7 October 2025 and uploaded on their website.
Among the comments, it was stressed that institutional discrimination constitutes an administrative barrier contradicting the long-standing Porto 2002 and Ljubljana 2005 OSCE commitments which prohibit religious intolerance and discrimination. It was also recalled that by coercing individuals to renounce or conceal their beliefs for economic participation, the German clauses infringe the very freedom of conscience and religion the OSCE vowed to protect (Maastricht 2003)
The imposition of faith-related requirements in public tenders is a serious violation of the European Charter on Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. Such a provision should be removed from the EU tenders without delay or the German submissions should be rejected.
Public contracts should be awarded solely on the basis of objective criteria related to qualifications and capabilities of the bidding companies and their workers, and not to religious or non-religious beliefs.
Individuals may fear that their religious or non-religious beliefs may be used against them in their professional life. They may also feel compelled to recant or hide their beliefs to be eligible and hope get contracts. This is religious discrimination, which is forbidden by the EU institutions.
Whatever the religious or belief group that is concerned, such an EU practice has been tolerated for too much time and cannot be further tolerated. Today is Scientology. Who will it be tomorrow? Do not forget the declaration of Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller. He spent 8 years in prison (1937-1945) under the Nazi regime.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Further reading about FORB in Germany on HRWF website
