EU: No political will for years to appoint EU Special Envoys for freedom of religion or belief
By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (03.06.2025) – Since the mandate of EU Special Envoy was created in 2016, the position has repeatedly been kept vacant for long periods without any convincing explanation despite numerous calls from members of the European Parliament and civil society organisations in the EU to appoint a new Special Envoy.
EU Special Envoy on FoRB (2016 – 2025): 5 years out of 10 without activity
In a February 2016 resolution on Daesh atrocities, the European Parliament “called for the EU to establish a permanent Special Representative for Freedom of Religion and Belief” outside the EU. In response to this resolution, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker swiftly created the function of the Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union (in short, EU Special Envoy on FoRB).
Three months later, in May 2016, the first Special Envoy on FoRB was appointed. It was Jan Figel, former EU Commissioner (2004-2009) and former Slovak Minister of Transport (2010-2012). His mandate was first limited to 12 months and afterwards extended until it expired with the end of term of Juncker Commission on 30 November 2019. During those three years, Jan Figel was very active as it can be seen from his 13-page report of activities, in particular his country visits in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It was the golden age of the function.
Elections at the European Parliament took place in May 2019 and in the process new EU EU Commissioners were appointed. For 1 year 1/2, the position of EU Special Envoy on FORB remained empty.
On May 5, 2021, the European Commission appointed Christos Stylianides as EU Special Envoy on FoRB). Christos Stylianides had previously served as the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management between 2014 and 2019 and as the European Union’s Ebola Coordinator.
He left the European Commission after four months for a more attractive and prestigious position of Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in Greece’s government in which he was sworn in on 10 September 2021. Needless to say that due to the poor conditions of his mandate he could not achieve anything during those summer months.
For one more year and three months, the position of EU Special Envoy on FoRB remained empty. In fact from 1 December 2019 to December 2022 when a new EU Special Envoy was appointed, 3 years passed without any activity under the mandate of the EU Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief in the world!
On 7 December 2022, three years and a half after the previous EU parliamentary elections and one year and half before the next ones, Baron Frans van Daele (75), a Belgian retired diplomat and former King Filip’s chief of staff, was appointed as the new EU Special Envoy on FORB. After such a long delay, it cannot be said that the EU had rushed to promote freedom of religion or belief in the world.
This last mandate only lasted for two years and came to an end six months after the EU parliamentary elections of June 2024 which were to be followed by the appointment of new EU Commissioners. During the second part of his mandate, only limited political follow up of the EU Special Envoy’s initiatives and activities was therefore to be expected due to the political transition.
As of early June 2025, the position of EU Special Envoy on FoRB has again remained empty.
In conclusion, during the 10 years of the existence of the post of EU Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief in the world, the mandate has only been carried out for 5 years. This is the reality of the facts.
FoRB defenders desperately knocking on the door of the European Commission
Since the end of the first mandate of the EU Special Envoy under Jean-Claude Juncker in 2019, the Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief at the European Parliament, the COMECE and civil society organizations such as ADF International, Aid to the Church in Need, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Human Rights Without Frontiers, just to name a few, have relentlessly pressed the European Commission to diligently appoint the successive EU Special Envoys, and to equip them with sufficient staff and financial resources. It never seemed that it was a priority for the EU decision-makers and this has not remained unnoticed by the media.
On 3 July 2023, MEP Jean-Paul Garraud asked if the European Commission could provide details of the resources made available to the Special Envoy for the performance of his duties (office, human and financial resources) and could indicate how the Special Envoy reports on his activities?
In the official answer of Vice-president Margaritis Schinas on the name of the Commission on 23 October 2023, there was no data about the financing of the mandate and no detail about an official report of activities. The MEP’s crucial questions remained unanswered, undoubtedly on purpose…
In the last few months, MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen and MEP Miriam Lexmann have sent two letters to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, about the persistent non-appointment of a new EU Special Envoy on FoRB. In her last answer, her only commitment was “I intend to renew the position of Special Envoy.”
One year after last European elections, the position of EU Special Envoy on FoRB has still not been fulfilled and there has been no call for candidates.
Lack of transparency
Again, there has obviously been no political will since the end of the mandate of Baron Frans van Daele to swiftly appoint a successor.
Noteworthy is that there is never any public call for candidates and appointments are opaque.
President von der Leyen would be well advised to follow the good practice of the United Nations in its appointment of Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Another source of inspiration in terms of transparency for President von der Leyen is the appointment procedure of the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In the meantime, several EU member states (Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia…) and the UK have appointed their own Special Envoys on FoRB…
Last but not least, opacity also prevails concerning the financial management of the function of EU Special Envoy and the report of activities of the last EU Special Envoy on FoRB is at least not publicly available, if it exists. Only EU Special Envoy Jan Figel provided a report of activities with recommendations which was made public a few days before the the end of his mandate.