European regimes of religious regulation are currently under considerable pressure from common challenges related to pluralization processes as well as overarching EU legal norms. However, whether this re-ordering of existing boundaries between the state and the religious sector results in path-dependent divergent institutional arrangements or converges to a common European model is the subject of much debate. On the one hand, sociological case studies suggest that states’ policy reactions differ widely across Europe and mainly reflect national traditions. On the other hand, legal scholars observe the emergence of a common European approach to the regulation of religious diversity which is based on the right to religious liberty, the autonomy of religious groups and selective co-operation between the state and the religious sector.
The proposed paper seeks to shed some empirical light on the dynamics and changes in European religious regulation from a comparative politics perspective. It draws on a newly coded data set for 31 European countries (27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey) which extends the data collected by the Religion and State Project for the years 2003-2011, resulting in a total observation period of over two decades. Preliminary results suggest that there are no signs of convergence in the modes of religious regulation across Europe. Quite to the contrary, the empirical evidence shows not only a persistence of specific national patterns but even an increasing divergence of European policies towards the religious sector. This holds for the treatment of religious minority groups and the restrictive or supportive regulation of religion in general. Factors that can explain these changes will be identified.
