Introduction

1. From oligarchies to European democracy

The rejection of the constitutional treaty in the French and Dutch referenda in spring 2005 marked a historic step: it was not Europe that lost, but rather a crisis for those governments who wanted to dictate the constitution by means of a treaty which they themselves had negotiated.

The French and Dutch rejection brought to an end the historic period opened by the Schuman declaration on 9^th May 1950, and may take us beyond intergovernmentalism, rule by pacts between states governing international law, the market and money, the basis of liberalist policies and the democratic deficit which have characterised the building of the European union.

Since the victory marked by this rejection, work has been undertaken to develop and draft a Charter of Principles of the Other Europe. This has happened at the same time as European mobilisation at the beginning of this century against war, liberalism and racism, and more recently against the privatisation of public services and in support of guarantees for universal rights (or example, the withdrawal of the Bolkestein directive).
The anti-liberal social movements have criticised both the methods and the contents of the “Treaty which adopts a Constitution for Europe”, welcoming the challenge it presents, and in fact turning it into a privileged battleground to combat and overturn liberalist policies. The main task of the movements is to involve citizens, both indigenous and migrant, in drawing up constitutional principles.

Over time, the building of the Community, and later of the European Union, accentuated the role of the market and business, around which economic and social relations were organised, and indeed the institutions themselves. We now find ourselves facing an economic constitution which is in direct contrast with the founding principles of the constitutional Charters of the 20^th century. The economy now rules society, as shown by the Maastricht Treaty, which imposes price stability and the control of public expenditure, thus dismantling the welfare state. The labour market has been deregularised, to the extent that collective action between “free” and individual negotiations between the parties has been abolished. The internal market - with the free movement of goods, people, services and capital - is now at the centre of the policies and institutions of the Union.

What should be done is confirming the priority of fundamental rights and their effectiveness: education, health care, culture, energy, transports, communication, water, housing and social protection ... these rights must be linked to those policies aiming at governing our territories, which must be a balanced action, and those environmental policies, which can guarantee the rights of future generations.

Public services, thanks to their mission, are what we need to increase the enjoyment of fundamental rights.

The functioning of these public services and the use of common goods - soil, air, water and energy - needs the implementation of social property projects. What we need to do is inventing a new kind of socialisation, which is not national or governmental property, and which allows people and workers to take part in the decision-making process concerning the organisation, functioning and designing of public services’ missions.

What we need to implement is a social re-appropriation process to meet all social needs by developing a process aimed at defining these needs with the help of all citizens and by developing a citizen-controlled process, which must be effective at all levels of public services’ missions.

In order to transform the European Union, where States and the market reign, we want to continue and develop a process in which native and non-native citizens can participate in the creation of a constitutional democracy, with the aim of establishing universal rights which at the same time form the basis of a European citizenship of native and migrant citizens, and a supranational public space in which democracy is practised at many levels.

The principles of the other Europe are based on:

1) Equal dignity and the inviolability of the person;
2) Peace, freedom, justice, security as both individual and collective rights;
3) Equality in diversity;
4) European citizenship for residents;
5) Social and labour rights;
6) Solidarity which aims to eliminate poverty, exclusion and deprivation;
7) Democracy and participation;
8) A socially just, ecologically sustainable and democratically managed economy

2. Towards the Fourth ESF in Athens: notes on the stages of work carried out

The above principles form the foundation of the social movements and their programmes, which contrast with those of the European ruling classes, and can form a constituent part of the other Europe. They have been at the core of the ESF, from Florence to London, and of the Florence Assembly 9November 2005) and will be developed in assemblies, seminars and workshops in Athens.

We need to ensure that the Charter of Principles continues to be developed in an inclusive, transparent manner; we stated once again in the working group studying the charter (the EPA in Vienna) that:

1. the elaboration and writing process should be an open one, in order to include the social actors, because a constituent process of the democratic Europe should involve large masses and their organizations;

2. the process should be transparent and each step should be decided in an open and democratic way, although the schedule should not ignore that the European elites want to re-launch the Constitutional Treaty and the social movements ought not to be found unprepared;

3. ‘our’ Europe is a common and open space, the borders of which are not the geographical or the so called ‘natural’ ones, but it is the result of the construction of a society built around the pacifist democratic, social, feminist, ecological, multicultural values which represent the content of the new citizenship;

4. the way through which we can build this kind of Europe is the civic integration, which is in clear contrast with the antidemocratic method followed by the governments during the 56 years of construction of EEC/EU, based on the market and on the capitalist economic relations, aggravated by the present neoliberal policies;

5. the Florence assembly was a good start, more progress should come from Athens, without deciding any deadline now, but by organizing some activities in order to deepen the elaboration and to make another step in the writing process;

6. the proposals agreed on in the working group are :

a) to prepare a text by using the reports and the related interventions, with some introductory notes to explain the intentions and the aims of the Charter, which can be discussed in the Frankfurt EPA (on Friday, March 3^rd);

b) to organize a set of activities in Athens, also in cooperation with other networks, to present the accomplished work to the largest possible audience, to deepen with this audience the themes already covered in Florence, to discuss subjects ignored until now and subjects on which controversies exist among ourselves;

7. in particular, the following were suggested:

a) a first assembly in Athens, which could be divided, after a general presentation, in as many working groups as the sessions held in Florence, in order to inform people, to involve them, to deepen the results of the Florence assembly;

b) some seminars on subjects which have not yet been discussed, or not thoroughly, such as:
- the knowledge society, the capitalist integration of science and production (ITC, pharmaceutical industries, biotechnologies, and so on);
– macroeconomic policies to fight against the neoliberal strategies (BCE, stability pact...);
– the democratic management of the social commons to produce the public services in order to be granted universal rights ( and in general the question of how and what we should produce, and who decides what to produce);
– poverty and exclusion in West and Eastern Europe;
– the democratic life in the enterprises: the cooperative mood of production;

c) ‘controversial tables’ on issues for which we don’t have consensus:
– terrorism/terrorisms: definitions, analyses, how to fight them;
– the defense of the peoples’ rights : UN, the international law and so on;
– self-determination and the human right of each single member of a community which aspires to self-determination; minorities in Europe and their rights to preserve their identities;
– Europe: the civic integration in contrast with the integration - better the non-integration - through national States;
– economic growth or alternative economy based on democratic management and ecological sustainability of the resources;
– casualization, basic income, democratic rights of the workers ;
– patriarchy, capitalism, equality, differences;
– Ideas for developing a democratic institutional architecture of Europe and linked with institutional forms adopted in member states
8. a final assembly in order to assess the work done and to decide the next steps and initiatives.

For everyone, Europe has become an area for social and political initiative, and all ESF movements share in constructing a democratic, peaceful, feminist, ecological, multi-ethnic and supportive Europe. This is highlighted in the concluding text of the Paris assembly, held last June 25^th.

( edited by Franco Russo)

 A. The Charter of Principles of the Other Europe

Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.

Europe recognizes and guarantees the rights decreed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the European Convention for the protection of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms (1950), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).

1. Peace and security

”Our” Europe(?) is founded on peace and our security is common and interdependent

I. Principles

– “Our” Europe (1) repudiates war as a means for solving international conflicts
and recognizes peace as a fundamental right of human beings and peoples.

– It acts as an active subject for the defense and promotion of the universal
values which are the conditions for peace: human dignity, freedom and equality comprising all human beings, human social and democratic rights, social justice and social responsibility, based on cultures which recognize their diversity.

– It commits itself to build peace through the struggle against any form of
injustice, exploitation, exclusion and threat using international law,
politics and diplomacy as its main tools.

– It recognizes the right of human beings and peoples to resist oppression and
injustice (2) using any means which does not produce more oppression and
violation of universal human rights, by trying to involve the international
community in the defence of the claims for freedom and social justice of the
victims.

– For this reason it supports the International Penal Court (3), as a first
step towards an international justice system which allows to sanction State-
and war crimes regardless of who turns out to be the winner.

– It works for the active commitment of the international institution against
any form of military, social, economic oppression using peaceful means and
excluding by principle the use of military force.
– It opposes the so-called “humanitarian” and pre-emptive war (4) considering
that war can never heal, with its inhumanity and violations of international
law and universal rights, but only produces new violations.

– It contributes to the construction of a peaceful and democratic
international order, opposing the unilateralism of States, of power politics
and any form of imperialism and colonialism. (5)

– It respects the existing international right of peace and justice, starting
from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and promotes its development
and improvement.
– It is committed to promote and develop the democratization of international
institutions (6) dedicated to assure peace and justice among the peoples,
and works for an international system of institutions which guarantee equal
dignity and equal power to all the peoples of the planet.

– For this purpose, it commits itself to abolish all the obstacles existing in
the present system of international institutions, nowadays subjugated to the
interests of the big powers and strong economies controlled by transnational
companies and financial institutions.

– It considers that human beings and communities have the right to live free
from aggressions, dangers and threats, considering its own security as an
effect of the security of others. For this reason it promotes a common and
interdependent security.

– In the name of these principles, it abstains from the use of any menace or
offensive attitude, working for conflicts’ prevention, peaceful solutions and
the humanization of international relations.

– It repudiates nuclear arms and all weapons of mass destruction as well as
torture and degrading treatments. It commits itself to disarmament and
demilitarization promoting an open and welcoming world and society which
assures the free circulation of human beings.

2. Europe in the world

– The other Europe is built on peace, its universal and cosmopolitan nature, and rejects all economic and military domination strategies, nationalism, European nationalism included, and all forms of racism.

– The other Europe is open to the world and must work to achieve global justice: this Europe acknowledges and gives new value to gender, cultural and historical differences, within the framework of equality concerning individual and collective rights. The new roots of Europe are characterised by their being «metic», which is largely due to the presence of migrants, both men and women: the violence of institutional borders cannot be accepted.

– The European area is not identified with the area covered by the 25 member States of the EU and rejects an integration process, which is to be implemented by using neo-liberal policies that have already led to unemployment, poverty, social exclusion in Eastern European countries, as well as Western European countries, and are the breeding ground for nationalism.

– The history of European colonialism, the looting of resources in the southern part of the world, wars which have caused millions of victims, want our Europe to be based on the responsibility principle as far as the economic and social conditions of the largest part of the world are concerned, namely the southern part of the world.

– The solidarity principle has to be at the base of relations among countries belonging to the European area and the countries of the rest of the world. It must not be a tool to assist the weakest countries, based on neo-liberal principles, as it already happened with the «war against poverty» lead by the World Bank. This principle must be at the base of the development of a common interest within the affirmation of global social and economic rights. The other Europe supports the right of peoples to self-determination and to an independent economic, social and cultural development. Sovereignty over one’s natural resources and environment must be guaranteed by Europe itself.

– The right to development is one of the fundamental human rights. Equal opportunities related to development are one of them too and a prerogative of countries and individuals.

– The Europe we want supports a new international economic order and, within such a framework, develops its international cooperation, which takes into consideration the differences in conditions and highlights the need for equality of rights.
– The cancellation of the debt of poor countries is urgently needed, and goes hand in hand with the support to those civil societies, which are fighting against oppressive regimes for justice and fundamental rights.

– Economic agreements must be subjected to the respect of human rights according to the international laws and conventions and to mutual transparency between Europe and those countries that have signed that agreement.

– Europe is in favour of an international taxation system on the movements of capitals and is against the free movement of the latter. It supports the development of regional markets to ease the creation of a multi-polar world.

– International law and legitimacy and their tools (treaties, conventions, resolutions, UNO, the Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court ...) must be considered in the light of this aspect too. In order to achieve a real multi-lateral economic governance, the rules concerning international trade relations and exchanges must be taken back to the principles and places of international legality and the UN Agencies.

– The other Europe does not accept the existence of “Commercial” Law, as a parallel Law, opposed to the International Law as a whole, which is what is currently happening with the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO.

– The other Europe plays a role aimed at preventing wars from breaking out and mediating. War prevention is also based on economic and political support in favour of those peoples fighting against oppression and authoritarian regimes.

3. Equality and difference

– Europe fully respects and guarantees the principle of equality of all citizens.

– Europe recognises and guarantees the right to equal status for women and men in all spheres of political and social life.

– All European citizens participate equally in political life

– Public institutions adopt special measures aimed at increasing equal participation by men and women in institutions and political bodies.

– Every individual living in the territory of the European Union [for at least ...] aquires citizenship, with all the rights this entails.

– Public institutions promote all initiatives to put an end to all forms of patriarchy in every aspect, both social and political, actively supporting women’s, individual and collective initiatives

– Public institutions work to put an end to human trafficking and slavery

– Public institutions promote all kinds of initiatives to put an end to sexual violence against women and children

– Europe affirms the secular nature of public institutions and freedom of conscience, and recognises and guarantees the freedom of people of different religions to express their faith in any form, whether individual or as a group, to spread their faith, and to exercise their faith both in private and in public.

– The right to asylum and to remain in the host country for those coming from countries where civil, political, social and other inviolable rights of the individual are violated, in particular sexual and women’s reproductive rights

– Public institutions work to break down all material, cultural, symbolic and linguistic barriers which have been erected in order to divide people.
– State schools should respect and take into consideration pupils’ first language, and facilitate the teaching and use of that language.

– All peoples have the right to self-determination. In virtue of this right, they must be free to decide their political status and to achieve economic, social and cultural well-being

– Every person belonging to a national minority shall have the right freely to choose to be treated as such and no disadvantage shall result from this choice or from the exercise of the rights which are connected to that choice.

4. Principles of the Democratic Europe

– Every European Institution must be legitimized by the will of European peoples, either directly by using referendums or initiatives involving people, or indirectly by means of Parliaments elected. The process leading to the Constitution needs the solemn legitimization of “We, the people”, which will be the starting point for filling the democratic gap within the EU too.

– This Europe must be built on the sovereignty of people, but, in the end, it is turned into reality thanks to the creation and participation to the Demos of all European Citizens gathered together. This Demos will be composed of a number of local and regional Demoi on the European territory.

– The Constitution is based on its rules, i.e. on the affirmation of universal rights, which are given to everyone; every citizen then recognizes that other people, as citizens, need to enjoy the same rights.

– Europe as a federation of peoples [which might be organised as a Demoi confederation?] The Europe, which we have in mind, is going to be the Europe of peoples and Demoi, and not the Europe of member States; it aims at creating civic relations among people as the founding stone for political institutions. The political, national and cultural identity of people - which is based on their historical experiences - must be respected and unspoiled by the creation of European political institutions.

– A transnational democracy, which is based on a non-hierarchical cooperation of a number of Demoi and levels.

– The innovative nature of European political integration is thus based on the fact that political power is situated neither in Brussels, its centre, nor in the member States, its peripheral areas, but corresponds to the relations establishing a link between European and national institutions. European democracy is based on these relations and the cooperation of many Demoi , which develop a new kind of political representation: It is more complex than national representation and it comprises peoples’ and countries’ and regions’ representation, as well as social interests’.

– This means that the structuring of institutions within the European political society must be based on equal dialogue and cooperation, rather than on hierarchy involving political or legal authorities, such as constitutional courts, parliaments and national and European governments. This is a horizontal, multi-centred governance, and decisions are taken everywhere in Europe under the unifying coordination of democratic institutions.

– At every level, government [executive bodies?] is [are] answerable to representative institutions; at a European level, government must be elected by and have the trust of the European parliament, and must be answerable to the European parliament for its decisions and actions; the European parliament ahs the power to initiate legislation, which can also be exercised by local, regional or national institutions, according to procedures defined by European legislation. Citizens may directly initiate legislation. Parliament expresses its opinions in one chamber elected directly by the citizens at a European level, according to a single electoral system, and in a second chamber which reflects territorial variations.

– European democracy is not a national or supra-national democracy. It is a trans-national democracy, as far as its institutional and post-national structure, as well as its civic goals are concerned.

– Right to information and communication freedom must be considered as fundamental political rights belonging to everyone. These rights guarantee the possibility of autonomous communication and information and developing one’s own piece of mind in an independent way , as well as the possibility of participating into the information and communication society on an equal basis. The public and political fields, made up of the right to information and communication freedom, must be considered as a precious public good belonging to everyone. Communication freedom is a public freedom and not a private one.

– Culture and communication are not goods, they must be detached from the market’s and competitiveness’ s rules.

– Europe respects and guarantees the recent UNESCO Convention on culture, which sets the pathway to be followed. We want it to be included as one of the fundamental principles of European policies on cultural and audio-visual products.
Information and communication are public goods. The adoption of a European Charter on audio-visual products is of the essence, if we want culture and public spirit to be saved from liberal globalisation.

5. European citizenship based on social citizenship

– Europe protects equality and guarantees solidarity, ensuring and promoting the fundamental rights of work and socio-economic rights which derive from common constitutional traditions, from the UN Declaration of 1948, the UN pacts on economic-social rights of 1966, the ILO Conventions, the European Declarations on the rights of workers of 1989, and the Turin European Charter. A precondition for belonging to Europe is the guarantee on the part of national institutions that the above rights should be respected.

– Europe, together with national institutions, is responsible for guaranteeing such rights according to the principle of indivisibility and equal rank among the fundamental rights. Europe has as its basis the respect for the dignity of the worker and the protection of labour in all its forms and applications.

– The rights as per par. (1) above must be recognised by European and national judges; any action by European institutions which violates the essential content of such rights must be liable to annulment by the European courts, and its application revoked by national judges. Through adequate policies, Europe must ensure that justice is accessible, particularly for the disadvantaged.

– The Union recognises and protects those rights which derive from national constitutions; should there be any conflict between European and national legislation, then the most-favoured principle should apply.

– The policies of Europe and national institutions must not only ensure the above prerogatives are not jeopardised, but must also promote the effectiveness of such rights: European Union bodies have a political responsibility before the European Parliament to ensure these essential aims are pursued. Suitable institutional organisations are appointed to achieve these objectives, along with the Agency for monitoring fundamental rights.

– Europe recognises social dialogue, freedom of association and trade union membership as an essential value.

– The right to strike, including political and sympathy strikes, is recognised at every level; it must also be possible to exercise the right to collective bargaining at a supra-national level, and any outcome should be binding: rules of fair representation and verifying consensus on the part of workers involved are defined by the European institution.

– In order to ensure the effectiveness of rights under (1) above, Europe defines suitable economic and social policies aimed at guaranteeing a citizen’s wage to all residents living in its territory, and at protecting citizens from the risks of unemployment, accidents, old age, social exclusion and illness. The suitability of such policies can be asserted both at a national level (where national legislation permits) or by the Union, having direct recourse to the competent legal authorities.

– Europe enjoys sufficient resources to pursue the objectives in the above paragraph, and can adopt a unitary fiscal policy and coherent economic policy, according to the model of an economic political government. The Statutes of the European Bank should be amended to ensure that its intervention cannot become an obstacle to the pursuit of the social aims of the Union.

6. Common social rights

– The affirmation of a new economic model is a political process, which can be implemented only by a detailed examination of the existing paradigm of the European economic policy and by deep changes to the bases of the EU Treaties and the Constitutional project.

– A general attitude, which must be in favour of equal relations between the North and South of the world; respect of local and global environmental balance; as well as the protection and dissemination of rights to everyone living on the planet, must be part of all EU policies, belonging both to domestic affairs and foreign affairs.

– What is needed is abandoning the restrictive, anti-inflation and competitive obsession, which characterises the current European economic policies. However, what is important is overcoming the stability pact and stopping the implementation of all new rules in favour of competitiveness, this is not enough to confirm a new paradigm of economic policy though.

– Public services, in spite of organisational differences in the different countries, are a public property: they are a public management system developed in order to meet the needs of people and they must not be seen as a profit-making system.

Principles aimed at defending and improving European public services

– Protection of public services must be included in the proposition aiming at another Europe.

– Fundamental rights, as well as their effectiveness, have got a priority, which must be confirmed: education, health care, culture, energy, transport, communication, water, housing, social protection. These rights must be linked to policies aimed at a balanced territory management and environmental policies, which will guarantee the rights of future generations.

– These rights must come first, if compared to business, competitiveness rights and the right of free movement of capitals, as well as free trade.

– Public services must be organised by public structures and bodies, which are not subjected to market and profit rules, business law rules, the rules of trade and those belonging to competitiveness laws; these principles are valid at all organisational and intervention levels: be it the local, regional, national or European level.

– Public services, thanks to their missions, are those tools which allow an effective access to fundamental rights. Public services have to be managed on the basis of universal principles (everywhere, for everyone), equal access (this means equal treatment for everyone), continuity and ability to adapt to new situations (new public services must be developed to meet new social needs).

– Public services must be organised by public structures, public properties, which are not profit-making structures, and do not abide by the rules of private law, trade, and competitiveness law; these principles are valid at all levels of organisation and action: local, regional, national and European levels.

– This means that we must reject the participation of private capitals into the management of state companies.

– The implementation of common goods means the implementation of new kinds of social property. What must be done is inventing a new kind of socialisation, which must be different if compared to nationalisation or state-owned properties. It must allow people and workers to take part into the decision-making process and organisational choices, as well as those choices aimed at defining the functioning and features of public services’ missions.

– This also means that state-owned companies must not act as vultures in other countries - especially Southern and Eastern countries - as the big corporations do.
– To have first quality services from public services, what is needed is fully qualified personnel, which is in contrast with the development of temporary work.

– Public services must lead to the development of a social repossession process. Public services must aim at meeting the social needs thanks to the implementation of a definition process, which must be developed by citizens, and a process based on controls by citizens at all levels of public services’ missions.

EDUCATION AND HEALTH are universal rights

the European movements against free-trade (?) should call for the following features:

– they must be universal rights, guaranteed to everybody, without distinction of revenue or citizenship, and they must be first-quality services intended for all citizens;

– they must be free of charge, and not be sold as services aimed at a profit, they must based on collective solidarity, equality, the principle of non-discrimination due to people’s social class, gender, religion, origin, colour of the skin or sexual orientation;

– they must be human-centred, tailored for women and men, they must respect people’s dignity, differences, sensitivity and origins, because people spend many days of their lives in these structures, and they must also respect all workers, who work within these very structures.

The European movement against free-trade (?) must support a kind of public school system, which:

– triggers a number of real cultural and social emancipation processes and does not just mirror our society and its inequalities, it is to support the greatest social inclusion and prevent social selection, social exclusion and the pointing out of all those differences related to origin, class, physical capabilities and gender from occurring;

– promotes active participation into the learning process, rather than just a passive participation, as well as the full involvement of people, which must respect time needed for learning,

– is completely secular and keeps out of schools and classes religious propaganda and teaching, as well as discrimination based on the supremacy of a “preferential” religion, whose symbols, traditions, habits and duties are promoted.

European countries and institutions ought to guarantee what follows:

– a large investments on education, primary schools all the way up to Universities, and on public research studies;

– state-managed education up to Universities, and the obligation, which States must fulfil, focused on guaranteeing state-managed schools from primary education up to University education everywhere in Italy;

– education must also be totally free of charge, from primary to University education, moreover school attendance must be compulsory - and must be solely accomplished as attendance at school - up to 18 years of age;

– school, universities and the research sector must be totally independent and not be influenced by companies, governments, political bodies and institutions, churches and religious bodies;

– education and research must not subjected to commodification, and the full independence in the elaboration and research sectors must be guaranteed to students and workers in the school, university and research fields;

– obstacles and discrimination towards students belonging to migrant families, disabled people or socially excluded people must be removed, their learning must be integrated into the ordinary school education, and not be separated from it by creating “different” educational paths;

– religious propaganda, the forced presence of symbols related to religions or any kind of religious faiths must be banned from University and Research sector.

HEALTH SYSTEM

– In order to create a real first-quality, public health system, which must serve everyone, what is needed is increasing subsidies, which must be allocated to the public health system;

– Public health systems must improve the quality of their services by diffusing their most excellent and most advanced experiences;

– Networks focusing on the right to health must be established and aimed at workers, citizens and associations. What has to be established, is a public, free, general and human health system, which must respect the physical and psychical integrity of citizens and workers, moreover treatment must not be “invasive”. These networks ought to monitor health services and policies and are supposed to promote the active participation of people into the health process;

– Private medical profession must not be in competition with its public counterpart and this principle must be applied to all health workers.

+

ENVIRONMENT

CULTURE - KNOWLEDGE

 B. Policy measures of the EU

1. Peace and security

On the basis of the afore mentioned principles we, the citizens of Europe(?), want a Europe of peace and want this peace to be recognized as a fundamental value. Europe has to be a
subject of peace and justice not only for the peoples of Europe, but for the
entire planet.
In particular we call on the European Union, its Member States and networks
of civil society to implement the following measures:

*Stop immediately the proliferation of US military bases around the
world.

* Use the military budget of the European Union and its Member States
for peacekeeping missions and international cooperation in order to
contribute to the social needs of the endangered population in the regions
affected by wars and internal conflicts.

* Establish an International Peoples Tribunal (see 3) to pursue the
perpetrators of war and foreign occupation with a team of international
prosecutors and judges and the active participation of the affected civil
societies.

* Establish a worldwide peace-network capable to detect the roots of
international and internal conflicts and to guarantee any group or people in
conflict a “Right for Mediation” (7) on the local, regional, national and
international level.

* Fully respect in the existing and future conflicts of the people’s
right for self-determination (particularly of the oppressed and
discriminated minorities) (8) and their just claims for local and regional
autonomy within the framework of the existing States (9), committed to
promote intercultural relations and a sustainable development of all peoples
of the world.

* Counteract the so called anti-terrorist laws and repressive measures
of public and private security forces through the establishment of
mechanisms of democratic control by parliaments, communities and
peacekeeping networks of civil society.

* Substitute as much as possible the centralized public and private
security forces by an interactive network of community vigilance on a local
and regional level.

Europe must not be built as a military power and a member of a military alliance as NATO, which is dependent on the USA. NATO must be set aside. On the contrary, Europe must give new value to those experiences, such as Peace Corps, and civil missions. The Europe of disarmament and civil reconversion of industries is opposed to the Europe of the Armament Agency, this means a new industrial policy, cuts to military expenses in favour of social expenses and expenses aimed at public use, and control of arms trade.

2. Social rights

1. The European Union guarantees solidarity and social cohesion on its territory. It protects work - which means any kind of job.

2. Convergence, from the highest level, of private life and work is one of the priorities of the EU and member States; it is one of the guidelines of their economic and social policies.

3. The EU commits itself for the constant improvement of ILO standards, within international institutions.

The respect of standards determined by the ILO conventions is one of the criteria, which must be included in the international relations of the EU and member States.
Trade union freedom especially is one of the fundamental rights of workers and an essential prerequisite to improve quality of life and disseminate social rights on the planet. The EU will take up all necessary measures to have this freedom respected everywhere in the world.

The European budget level increased according to the necessary new allocation of resources between the poorest regions of the EU and its richest. Tax systems on capital revenue are unified at the European level. Fighting against fiscal dumping and evasion is of the essence.

B. The European Union guarantees the enjoyment of social rights on its territory. These are individual rights and are protected by law, such as: right to move freely within the EU territory; freedom of choosing their own career; equal access to education, employment and career; all forms of discrimination, due to sex, skin colour, nationality, thought and religion is illegal and Europe will fight against them.
The EU recognizes and guarantees the right to stipulate collective agreement at the supra-national and European levels.

The European Union recognizes and guarantees the right to go on strike at the European level. Lockout practice is forbidden.

II.

1. Every citizen living in the EU has got the right to enjoy a good quality of life, which must allow them to live a dignified life and enjoy social and cultural participation.

2. As for workers and employees, employment conditions must be defined according to the conditions of each member State, according to what law envisages, and on the basis of a collective agreement or a work contract. Employees must benefit from social protection and protection envisaged by collective agreements.

3. Employees have the right to be protected from unjustified dismissal.
Dismissal and bankruptcy requisites are harmonized by the European law.

4. All workers need to enjoy a good level of health protection in the work place.

5. Job centres are public. Access to these centres is free.

6. Employment conditions of branch workers are governed by European law. They are subjected to employment rules and social protection systems, which are in force in the host country.

7. In the EU working hours amount to max. 40 hours on a weekly basis.
The EU is developing a policy aimed at a progressive reduction of working hours at the European level.

8. Workers have got the right to be informed and consulted on the economic and financial situation of the company with which they are working. Companies and industrial groups having a number of factories in different member States must allow the creation of CEE, European Company Committees.

9. Every adult, who does not benefit from other kind of income, has got the right to enjoy a minimum individual guaranteed income. The threshold is the poverty line, and they must not go under it.

In the EU, the poverty line is determined as that level allowing someone to enjoy good housing, movement and cultural and social participation. This level is determined by law. In order to allow harmonisation in the sector, this level will be expressed as percentages of the GDP, as economic indicators are.

10. The minimum wage is compulsory in all member States. The EU develops those conditions needed to determine the common level of the minimum wage, which must be calculated according to the minimum income.

III.

1. Young people can start working on their turning 18 only. They must be guaranteed lifelong training. Employment of young people must be protected in the same way as adult’s. Special status for young people aimed at training workers at a low price is forbidden.

Children’s work is forbidden. Night work and shifts are forbidden for people younger than 18 years of age.

2. Training is included in working hours. Wage for training is determined according to the current level, but it must not go under the threshold determined for the minimum income.

Students having already turned 18, who do not have any other resource, have the right to enjoy the minimum income.

3. Minimum old-age pension is determined by the minimum income threshold.

4. Disabled people have got the right to enjoy measures easing their social and professional integration.

C. Social rights are effective and can be brought before a law court.

1. Social rights cannot be violated and all have got the same importance. These rights can be brought before national and European courts.

2. The EU and the member States commit themselves to really implement these rights. To this end, they set objectives to be achieved as far as social goals are concerned; convergence criteria, as well as terms for the meeting of these same criteria, are thus defined.

3. As for social and fiscal issues, majority vote will be used.

4. Any legislation violating the fundamental content of these rights, can be cancelled by the European Court and de-institutionalized by national justice.
The EU guarantees equal access to justice to everyone.

5. The EU recognizes and protects the rights stemming from national constitutions. Should a discrepancy occur between European and national rules, the principle of the most favourable treatment is applied.

6. What is needed is the definition of a process and criteria of social convergence

What is needed is developing social rights, which are to be identical in all countries, even though these latter have different economic levels. What should be done is listing fundamental social rights, for the enforcement of which, convergence standards must be developed. The former must be defined on the basis of each individual situation - and the content id dependent from the level of development of that given country. Moreover, what should be done is defining a precise time schedule, which must be as binding as the time schedule defined for the Maastricht criteria.

A non-regression clause is likely to prevent any social step backward.

The harmonisation of wages and pensions is an instrument to be used against unemployment and to apply social justice in all European countries. It envisages high taxes for de-localization projects.

3. Definition of elements belonging to the labour law

In order to strengthen the transnational rights of workers, the following must be done:

– new negotiation of the directive on the CEEs - European Company Committees - which means giving more power to CEE and creating the “company government/management” law, it also implies the compulsory presence of worker representatives within the Boards of Directors of industrial groups;

– the application, at the European level, of the idea of a “social and economic unity” so that all mandating enterprises can be made responsible for those people working with their subcontractors, and they can thus guarantee the same rights to all workers;

— a new negotiation of the 96/71/CE directive (Labour law) and the 1408/71 regulation concerning the coordination of social security systems focused on branch workers, to increase the level of respect for employment rules of the host country and cut the link of strengthened dependency, which exists between branch workers and their employers, on the basis of the subordination of law concerning the staying of the workers and the job contract;
– 
– drafting a directive on working hours, which is able to really protect workers.

4. Economic policy: a radical change

1.What is proposed is turning the fight against unemployment - which ought to be fully eradicated - into an explicit objective of economic policies; the starting point is those coded objectives concerning the reduction of the unemployment rate. As a consequence, a European “ policy-mix ” (which links budgetary and monetary policies) must be implemented; what is needed is reforming the Stability Pact, as well as the charter and intervention criteria of the ECB. What is possible to achieve is a coordinated policy aimed at the reduction of working hours at the European level, without decreasing wages, which can be applied - thanks to a real political will - and contribute to fight against unemployment effectively. Moreover, the meeting of the Finance Ministers of those countries belonging to the Euro zone (Euro-group) must exploit those prerogatives, which are given to it thanks to the treaties, and concerning the exchange policy, related to the euro-dollar exchange especially. The level of the European budget must be greatly increased and what is to be done is creating a unified European tax system on capital income, as well as reforming the tax system concerning benefits and advantages for companies, to fight against tax dumping. Our proposal is the establishment of a tax on the exchange market.

2. Reform of the public services

Public services must be identified and reformed and they do not have to be submitted to competitiveness laws.

– set up a moratorium on liberalisations and develop a public, democratic and contradictory evaluation;

– develop public services, which can meet social needs: taking care of little children (crèches, nursery school, etc.) and services aimed at supporting people who are not self-sufficient (elderly or sick people, etc.). These services need to be organised within a collective framework, whose workers’ qualification will be fully recognized and enhanced, and a mixed presence of men/women will be one of the goals.

– reject the principle of the country of origin.

3. Eradication of poverty

In order to stop the deterioration of the social situation, it is necessary to change the existing conditions. Human and social rights must be entirely fulfilled in the European Union both. We demand that people in need should be provided with work and safe material existence, workers should be provided with dignified living conditions, people should be granted of peaceful and safe living conditions.
Our immediate demands:

1. Immediate measures must be taken to begin eliminating the extreme poverty and to stop the further impoverishment.

2. Homelessness must be eradicated, its main cause has to be removed: the evictions must be stopped! We demand “Zero Eviction”: nobody can be dislodged, no matter what the reasons are, unless accommodation is provided for them during the period of need. The public institutions must take care of all those people who have already been put on the streets. The right to have a proper home must be included in the constitution, as part of the Human Right to Life.

3. Undernourishment must be done away with! Food must be provided to all those who are not able to get proper nourishing. It must be organised that all those in need can get at least one hot meal per day.

4. Without deferring any longer, social and material assistance should be provided to all those people, uncapable to ensure their own and their children’s simple existence.
5. The raising of the retirement age must be taken off the agenda.
6. In order to improve purchasing power, the social minimum and minimum wages must be raised sensibly.

7. The privatisation of public services, like health, education, culture and media, must be stopped!

8. In order to decrease inequality, the poorest sections of society must be provided with material and background assistance in the field of education!
9. It’s necessary to achieve an EU budget which helps the catching up of the newly joined countries .

Our demands for middle-range:

1. A European social minimum must be introduced.

2. Social organisations must be provided with the necessary financial support in order to enable them to carry out their tasks! The rights of social an civil organisations must be extended to the codification and legislation of laws and the defining of guidelines of social policies. We urge the reform of the electoral and institutional system in order to realise social rights: civil forums, civilian veto.

3. It must be granted that gained social rights can not be withdrawn

5. Easing the democratic and environmental development of Southern countries

The EU enjoys full jurisdiction on trade policy. The EU negotiates at the WTO (World Trade Organisation) on behalf of member States and developed a number of partnership agreements or cooperation agreements involving Southern countries or groups of countries. This means that these countries are subordinated to the interests of rich countries. Attac’s proposal focuses on:

– interruption of generalized free trade and establishment of fair conditions for trade relations, namely by establishing the non-reciprocal preferential regimes and technical and financial cooperation again;

– refusal - by EU member States, within the international financial institutions - of those conditions for the granting of financial aid, which are based on the opening of the markets; moreover, EU member States must support the development of an international law focusing on debt, and based on the recognition of the common responsibility of creditors and assurance of support. The granting of financial aid must be subjected to the implementation of policies aimed at meeting the fundamental needs of peoples, guaranteeing the existence of democratic freedom, aimed at equal opportunities between man and women especially;

– reform of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) based on the multi-functional nature of agriculture and the suspension of financial backing for exports;

– establishment of a moratorium on international trade liberalisation policies and recognition of the right to be safe and enjoy food sovereignty of all countries and groups of countries, and within international negotiations.

6. Development of cooperative forms of production

What must be guaranteed in today’s society - but also in another “possible society” - are those individual and collective rights of workers within companies, moreover new forms of socialization of production must be established.

Democracy is an important issue within companies, irrespective of their size. Who’s in charge of taking decisions on important trends, the appointment of managers, development, wage scheme, distribution of profits and the good development of the company ... ? it’s the workers and employees themselves of course.

– First principle:

The concept of citizenship was developed in the XVIIIe century in Europe, and the main idea was: «one person=one vote». From the very beginning, the cooperative movement situated this principle at the economic level within companies. In our companies, every worker has one vote, just one, irrespective of their role and the number of social actors, who are present within the company. This is principle is the democratic equality applied to all workers working in the same company.

Managers are appointed by all workers during corporate meetings (directors and managers), important trends are also debated and decided upon during these meetings.

– Second principle:
For workers to take decisions concerning their company independently, they must be the company’s tenants or owners. This means they have to own at least 51% of the total capital of the company. This is something different if compared to the minority wage-earning shareholders, which is a real burden, since workers have no power to effectively take decisions.

– Third principle:

In cooperative companies, the company’s capital is not made up of shares, but social quotas.

According to our mind, only work creates wealth, and thus only work can be paid.
The company belongs to all workers. Should one of them want to quit, they cannot quit it and bring quotas of the company along. Reserves (which cannot be subdivided) of the company belong to the company itself, thus to future generations. This is the only corporate organisation, which really takes part in sustainable development.