Seminar on a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly in Paris

25. November 2019

"Democratize globalization": exchanges and proposals in Paris on September 21, 2019, the International Day of Peace

Organized by the Union of European Federalists-France in collaboration with Democracy Without Borders, a seminar on "Democratizing globalization with the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly?" was held in Paris on September 21st at the Charles-Léopold Mayer Foundation.

(Photo : Didier Colmont)

Bringing together about thirty participants, primarily academics and representatives of civil society, the conference included three workshops focused on conflict resolution, human rights and the environment, considering in particular climate change as focus topic of this year's International Day of Peace.

The participants were welcomed by Chloé Fabre, President of the UEF Île-de-France, and François Leray, French representative of the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

Among other things, the participants agreed that the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly should be a step-by-step process, initially starting with a parliamentary assembly with powers limited to the most urgent global issues. For example, a world parliament would be able to debate democratically and at the right scale the global environmental crisis and effective collective solutions.

Speakers included, in alphabetical order, Anne-Laure Baldacchino, Climate Ambassador of the Center for United Nations Constitutional Research (CUNCR); Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, lawyer and Professor Emeritus of Public Law and Political Science at the University of Paris VII; Maja Groff, international lawyer based in The Hague, winner of the New Shape Prize awarded by the Global Challenges Foundation; Tahar Houhou, a "world citizen" since 1989, involved in the associative movement; Marion Larché, doctor in public law and author of a thesis on the functions of international law in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights; as well as Marie-Christine Vergiat, an activist and French politician, Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2019 and Vice-President of the League of Human Rights.

More information

Seminar report

Tags: France