Committee for a World Parliament joins global campaign

5. May 2009

The Committee for a World Parliament (COPAM), based in Paris, has joined the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (CEUNPA). The decision followed on a meeting of COPAM President, Olivier Giscard d'Estaing (in the picture), and the Head of the CEUNPA Secretariat, Andreas Bummel, in Paris. COPAM was established in 1995 in order to build support for the creation of a world parliament. The organization's Honorary Committee includes over 20 personalities, most of whom are former heads of state or government. COPAM and the CEUNPA Secretariat agreed on collaborating in specific areas. "The objective to create a world parliament is demanding and complex. However, I believe that eventually it will be achieved. Still, to make this possible, it is important that all like-minded institutions, groups and individuals in the world work together and coordinate their activities. That's one of the purposes of the Campaign for the Establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly. We are therefore pleased to join this network," Mr Giscard d'Estaing stated. "Regarding the details of the proposal I would like to highlight that from our point of view future delegates of a global parliamentary assembly initially could be appointed by national parliaments. However, we believe that the delegates do not necessarily need to be elected MPs themselves. The cumulation of the global mandate with another parliamentary mandate at the national level would be to the disadvantage of the former," Mr Giscard d'Estaing added.

Among the personalities who supported COPAM are Andreas van Agt, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission, Sonia Gandhi, President of the Congress Party of India, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France, Felipe Gonzalez, former President of Spain, Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister of Israel, Mario Soares, former President of Portugal and Gaston Thorn, former Prime Minister of Luxemburg.