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Resolution 1746 (2010) Final version
Democracy in Europe: crisis and perspectives
1. The Parliamentary Assembly notes
with concern that the recent world economic crisis has accentuated symptoms
of a crisis of democracy which have been present for some time now.
In particular:
1.1. lack of necessary
regulation and co-operation at the international level to help face
the challenges of globalisation, as well as lack of political control
over financial interests;
1.2. highly centralised executive decision making and global
negotiation mechanisms with little parliamentary control, insufficient
transparency and without opportunities for citizens’ participation.
This has further deepened people’s distrust in democratic institutions
and the quality of the democracy they live in and increased their
feeling of powerlessness and frustration;
1.3. concentration of power and money and, in some Council
of Europe member states, also an excessive concentration of the
media, in the hands of a few. More and more politicians have become dependent
on the huge fortunes or the favours of those who own the media.
As inequality and the concentration of wealth increase, so does
the corruption of democratic institutions;
1.4. a disinterest in the current institutionalised procedures
of democracy and a crisis in representation. Election turnouts have
gone into freefall in most European countries and abstention rates
reached up to 80% in some of them in the 2009 elections to the European
Parliament;
1.5. populist and extremist movements, identity politics and
nationalistic rhetoric have been reinforced during recent years
under crisis conditions in many member states;
1.6. an almost unlimited collection of personal data by state
agencies, notably the police and social security agencies, as well
as by private companies, threatens personal freedom and privacy,
which are preconditions for free participation in democratic life.
2. The Assembly considers that the current crisis in representation
requires that, apart from the traditional forms of mandate and delegation,
with which fewer and fewer citizens are satisfied, the political
relationship between society and the authorities must also be approached
in a different manner. Thus, without putting into question representative
democracy, the Assembly underlines that representation can no longer
be the only expression of democracy; the latter has also to be developed
beyond representation, in particular by the following means:
2.1. more sustained forms of interaction
between citizens and the authorities must be established, beyond
the conventional representative approach, in order to include, in
a carefully designed manner, direct democratic elements in the decision-making
process;
2.2. participatory democracy should be enhanced as a process
in which all people, and not only nationals, are involved in the
conduct of public affairs, at local, regional, national and European
levels;
2.3. democracy should be understood not just as a system or
the sum of individual rights, but as a form of society which requires
rules for social justice and redistribution and implies not only
delegating and taking decisions, but also discussing and living
together in dignity, respect and solidarity. It is work in progress
which is put to the test on a daily basis;
2.4. the renewal of politics also requires the development
of a new culture of civic and political responsibility. The latter
needs to be considered in terms of responsiveness and accountability,
as well as transparency, on the part of those who govern. This also
applies to civil society actors who participate in the political
debate. As far as the accountability and transparency of political
parties are concerned, the Assembly refers to the newly adopted
code of good conduct in the field of political parties.
3. The Assembly stresses that the right to participate in the
conduct of public affairs, be it at local, regional, national or
European levels, is a human right and a fundamental political freedom,
which should thus be embodied as such in the European Convention
on Human Rights (the Convention, ETS No. 5).
4. Humanising and democratising the process of globalisation
is another challenge the Council of Europe is facing. Its contribution
could consist in developing, along with other actors, guidelines
to regulate globalisation in full respect of human rights, including
women’s rights and social rights, ecological imperatives and the
rule of law.
5. Stronger support should be given to transnational networks
formed by citizens to address specific issues, such as environmental,
social or even constitutional questions, especially in view of the
advent of transnational European democracy building. In this context,
the Assembly welcomes the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) provided
for by the Treaty of Lisbon of the European Union, which gives European
citizens an opportunity to present legislative proposals to the
European Commission, thus constituting the first instrument of direct
and transnational democracy in the European Union. The Assembly
expects that the European Union institutions will implement the
ECI in such a manner as to enable all democratically engaged civil
society groups, and not only the privileged ones, to make use of
it in the common European interest.
6. With a view to contributing to enhancing people’s participation
in the conduct of public affairs, improving the quality of democracy
and promoting the common interest, the Assembly:
6.1. calls on Council of Europe member
states to:
6.1.1. establish participatory and deliberative
processes and structures, such as participatory budgeting, citizen
initiated referendums and citizens’ juries or conferences, open
to all those living in a country and not only to nationals;
6.1.2. set up, enhance and promote independent supervisory institutions,
such as ombudsperson’s offices and bodies dealing with access to
public documents and data protection, so as to enhance the concept
of political responsibility and accountability;
6.1.3. improve citizenship education and political training by
ensuring compliance with the new Council of Europe Charter on Education
for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (Recommendation
CM/Rec(2010)7), as well as implementing the Council of Europe’s programmes
in the field of democratic citizenship and human rights education;
6.2. decides to undertake further reflection, in close consultation
with the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission),
with a view to elaborating an additional protocol to the European
Convention on Human Rights guaranteeing the right to participate
in the conduct of public affairs as a human right and fundamental
freedom. This would supplement, on the one hand, the right to vote
and stand for elections, guaranteed by the Protocol to the Convention
(ETS No. 9, ratified by all but two member states of the Council
of Europe) and, on the other, similar initiatives taken at local
level;
6.3. resolves to organise open public debates in the context
of the drafting process of the new protocol so that this process
offers an opportunity to promote public discourse and raise awareness
on the need to increase citizens’ active participation and ensure
further involvement of all people in the conduct of public affairs.
7. The Assembly, recalling its earlier proposal in Resolution
1886 (2009) on the future of the Council of Europe in the light
of its sixty years of experience, and reiterating that, among the
three main pillars of the Council of Europe, the democracy pillar
needs to be strengthened, further conceptualised and gain in visibility, proposes
that:
7.1. a Strasbourg Democracy
Forum be set up as an umbrella structure providing an international reference
in the field of democracy and a laboratory for new ideas and proposals
– including older ones which have been forgotten and need to be
put back on the agenda – with a view to restoring and strengthening
democracy. Such a structure could also serve as a barometer with
respect to the main new challenges to democracy in Europe today,
including those raised by globalisation;
7.2. a high-profile personality, a sort of a delegate for democracy,
be entrusted with the task of leading and animating the Strasbourg
Democracy Forum, as well as disseminating, on a permanent basis,
the Council of Europe’s message on democracy-related issues of major
current interest.
8. The Assembly invites the national parliaments of the Council
of Europe member states to examine the present report and resolution
and provide their feedback in an appropriate manner with a view
to ensuring relevant follow-up in the framework of national legislation
and policies.
9. The Assembly invites the European Union institutions to open
a discussion on ways of getting the parliaments of the member states
of the European Union more closely involved in Community decision
making.