European deputies of three Dutch ruling coalition parties were set to launch a campaign demanding that the European Union sever all diplomatic ties with the Vatican, a spokeswoman said Friday.
"The debate on this issue will be launched in the Netherlands on Saturday," a spokeswoman of EU deputy Lousewies van der Laan told AFP.
EU deputies of the three ruling parties -- D66, VVD and PvdA -- were then to take the campaign to the European parliament.
"The Vatican does not represent a state but a religion. I believe that it should be treated in the same manner as delegations of other important religions," Van der Laan, who took the initiative for the move, told newspaper De Volkskrant.
"The Vatican has too much political power compared to these religions," she said, adding that the Vatican had the power to block decision making on issues such as AIDS prevention and women's rights.
The Vatican gained independent sovereignty from Italy in 1929 after disputes between the Italian government and successive popes -- THE HAGUE (AFP)
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