Court Rules Against Cross Ban in Italy's Schools

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/feb/10022305.html

“The Council of Europe has declared that it is not within the scope of the European Court of Human Rights to force Italian schools and public offices to remove crucifixes.”
“The council vote follows a massive public uproar in Italy, after the court ordered the Italian government to remove crucifixes from public spaces. The ruling came in response to a single complaint made by a Finnish woman who lives in Italy and who said that, as an atheist, she wanted her children to be free of religious influences.
The court ruled unanimously that crucifixes in Italian public school classes are contrary to the rights of parents to “educate their children in line with their convictions” and to the children’s right to freedom of religion under article 2 of the 1st Protocol, and art. 9 of the Convention.”

If I understand this correctly, then what the Council of Europe is saying is that even though the displaying of crosses in the school goes against the European Union Convention, Italy, a member of the EU, does not have to abide by that law. Shouldn’t membership into the EU have to include meeting the condition that the member country abides by the standards of the Convention? Why should Italy receive the benefits of being an EU member if it wants to seek exemption from the rules? Europe is supposedly the shining beacon of hope for secularists yet the influence of religion in the public domain is still strong and may be getting stronger.