Bärbel Bas

Political decision-making procedures need to be democratically legitimate, transparent and accountable. This applies to the global level as well. That's why I support the idea of a Parliamentary Assembly at the UN. 

Prof. Tim Murithi

The UN still grants governments a monopoly on the representation of their societies. This monopoly is no longer tenable. A more inclusive system of global democracy is needed. As an important step towards a fundamental transformation of the UN and the development of a democratic world parliament, I support the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly which would give citizen-elected representatives a voice.

Ute Finckh-Krämer

In the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe I have been working on important cross-border issues together with parliamentarians from other member states and learned a lot from them in the process. A Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations could complement the collaboration of governments in the General Assembly and the UN's various subsidiary bodies with a structured collaboration of parliaments. I consider this to be very useful.

Soraya Post

As a long time activist and now a Roma woman elected to the European Parliament, I see the need of democratising the representation of the UN through a UN Parliamentary Assembly. We as peoples of the world need the possibility to be able to directly influence the UN's political agenda and its implementation. It is a matter of our human rights and their full realisation.

Prof. Dr. Felix Ekardt, LL.M., M.A.

Free world trade needs a clear political and eco-social framework if it is not to have ruinous effects. Global regulation calls for democratized global institutions based on checks and balances, among them a global parliament. In the long run, this is the only way to protect freedom and its preconditions which are under threat today intertemporally and across national borders. For this it will also be necessary to achieve a serious - and not only bogus - democratization of the world's nation-states.

European Parliament calls on EU to foster a debate on "establishing a UN Parliamentary Assembly"

In a resolution adopted yesterday on the European Union's policy at the next session of the United Nations General Assembly which will start in September, the European Parliament has called on the Council of the European Union to foster a debate "on the topic of establishing a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly" (UNPA).

The resolution that will be formally forwarded to the Council by the parliament's president Antonio Tajani adds that a UNPA should be discussed "with a view to increasing the democratic profile and internal democratic process" of the United Nations and "to allow world civil society to be directly associated in the decision-making process."

European lawmaker Jo Leinen (S&D) who had initiated that the recommendation on a UNPA was included in the resolution said that "this year's recommendations of the European Parliament relative to the 72nd UN General Assembly once again include a call on the Council of the EU to promote the idea of a UN Parliamentary Assembly. The G20 summit in Hamburg illustrates very well that there is no proper world order. While 20 countries take decisions, 175 UN member states are excluded. This is not sustainable. Through the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly citizen-elected representatives of all peoples are provided with a real voice in the global system."

"International organizations should be subject of public oversight and not of obscure and secret diplomacy. I support the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly inside the UN system in order to create opportunities for stronger participation of the public in the activities of the United Nations," said Elmar Brok (EPP), a member of the European Parliament, former long-time chair of the parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, and president of the Union of European Federalists.

The rapporteur responsible for the resolution, European lawmaker Andrey Kovatchev (EPP), stated that "there is a growing need for transparency and democratic accountability. I believe that encouraging a debate on the topic of establishing a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is a step in the right direction."

He added that "the United Nations should consider all options available for increasing democratic legitimacy and regaining the trust of the people. The international community together with the civil society should come up with an alternative to the recurrent deadlock of the UN system. Moreover, this debate would further strengthen the world civil society and foster public engagement."

Last year, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, stated that a UNPA "could be a very useful tool." Before assuming her current position she endorsed the international campaign for a UNPA as an Italian deputy. By now, around 1,500 current and former members of parliament expressed support.

The coordinator of the campaign, Andreas Bummel, welcomed the European Parliament's call on the Council. In May the campaign hosted an inofficial information meeting on a UNPA in New York in collaboration with the Canadian UN mission which brought together civil society experts and representatives of 12 governments.

"With this resolution the European Parliament as the representative body of the EU's citizens has made it clear that it supports a serious debate on this issue and that it would like to see EU governments to play a proactive role on this topic during the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly," Mr. Bummel said.

The European Parliament's support for a UNPA is long established. A first resolution on the subject was adopted in 1994.

Top image: The EP plenary. From the archives of the European Parliament

 

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07 November 2016: Union of European Federalists strengthens support for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

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G20 in Hamburg: Global democracy and UN Parliamentary Assembly discussed at "alternative summit"

Ahead of the G20 meeting in Hamburg on July 7/8 a workshop on global democracy and the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly was held at the alternative "Global Solidarity Summit" that was organized by over 70 civil society groups.

"Achieving global justice will only be possible through democratic global structures", said Dena Freeman, deputy director of the civil society group One World, in her opening presentation. She spoke about the historical transition to democracy that had taken place in European countries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and how this had led to major improvements in social justice through the development of left wing political parties, redistribution and the welfare state. Now, she argued, it was time for a similar transition to take place at the global level leading to a new global social contract and a fairer and more just world for everyone. "We need to start building global institutions that will bring democracy to the global level, and a great place to start would be a democratic parliament at the UN".

Andreas Bummel, director of Democracy Without Borders and coordinator of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA), followed up this theme in a second presentation. "The G20 lacks the legitimacy for global decision-making," he said. "It's not representative and most countries are excluded. The UN is somewhat better because at least all countries are included, but it still falls far short of democratic ideals. Just as the G20, it is an exclusive club of government executives. The UN needs to be democratized. What is needed is a UN Parliamentary Assembly that would represent the world's citizens in UN decision-making". He argued that it was necessary to overcome the principle of consensus decision-making that characterizes intergovernmental negotiations and to start building democratic structures that could sustain majority decisions in the long run. He called on activists to join the campaign for a UNPA.

After the two presentations there was a vibrant discussion about global challenges such as climate change, environmental destruction, inequality and social justice, and how global democracy and a world parliament would help address them. Most participants agreed that global democracy was necessary to bring about global justice and argued that democracy must be strenthened at all levels and protected from being taken over by corporate interests. For most of young activists present it was the first time that they had heard about the idea of a UNPA - many agreed it was important and added their names to the campaign's petition.

On the day of the workshop the plenary of the European Parliament adopted a resolution in Strasbourg that included a call on the Council of the EU to foster a debate on "establishing a UN Parliamentary Assembly."

New think tank on the structure of the United Nations and global governance established

Earlier this year, a new think tank was established in Brussels that intends to provide research and policy recommendations concerning the Charter and structure of the United Nations. A focus of the Center for United Nations Constitutional Research (CUNCR) will be to identify and promote mechanisms and reforms that strengthen the legitimacy and efficiency of the UN and global governance as well as measures to strengthen the rights of the world’s citizens.

“Recognizing that the UN and current international law are primarily state-centric and therefore democratically deficient, the association will focus on the promotion and protection of global citizens’ rights in a representative global governance paradigm,” the center’s website explains.

Among other things, the center’s work will include “in-depth study and research into the UN Charter, including the Charter’s strengths and weaknesses, and taking into account the relevance and effectiveness of the UN in the current fragmented international-law and governance regime.”

According to the Center, “in many respects international law is ill-equipped to tackle the various urgent problems posed by globalization, climate change, global poverty, and nuclear weapons, or to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security and the protection of fundamental human rights and delivery of global justice.”

In order to promote discussion and the exchange of ideas around these issues, CUNCR will host international seminars at various locations on a wide array of topics relating to the most pressing challenges we face today.

A first 2.5-day seminar on “International Environmental Laws and Climate Change” is scheduled to take place in Greece in July. Further seminars are intended to deal with international parliamentary institutions, regional and international criminal courts, international sanctions regimes, and a reform of the UN’s Security Council, among others.

CUNCR website

Roundtable on Increasing Democratic Representation at the United Nations in The Hague

At an event convened by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) in The Hague on May 15, representatives of regional parliaments, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) and academia came together to explore mechanisms to increase democratic representation and accountability of the United Nations.

The Roundtable that was hosted by the House of Representatives of the Netherlands with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands provided an opportunity to exchange ideas and to assess options like the creation of a UNPA or an improvement of existing mechanisms. The opening remarks were delivered by the even’s co-hosts Pieter Omtzigt, a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, and Nico Schrijver, member of the Dutch Senate, both of which are also members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The first panel was started with a presentation by Andreas Bummel, coordinator of the UNPA Campaign, who stressed the need for creating a formal parliamentary body at the UN that would provide new space for members of parliament to be involved in the UN’s work. He said that the campaign’s goal was a UNPA vested with distinctive rights and powers that could be created, in a first step, by the UN General Assembly based on Article 22 of the UN Charter. He suggested that the apportionment of seats should be based on the principle of “degressive propotionality” which means that on a sliding scale smaller states would get more seats per capita than larger ones.

According to the second speaker, Anda Filip, Director of External Relations at IPU, the IPU already attempts to bring the voices of parliaments and parliamentarians to the UN and its agenda. She said that going through the IPU as an institution separate from the UN would maintain a clear separation of powers and promote independence and autonomy. She suggested that existing tools provided for by the IPU should be strengthened instead of creating new institutions.

Hans Köchler, Professor emeritus at the University of Innsbruck and President of International Progress Organization, elaborated on the democratic deficit at the UN, in particular with respect to the Security Council and the veto privilege of its five permanent members. He argued that a UNPA would represent an important step towards making the UN more democratic and raised the idea that such a new body might be better suited to monitor and oversee actions and decisions of the Security Council.

Subsequently, Charles Santiago, a member of parliament from Malaysia, shared his experiences as legislator and chair of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) whose objective is to investigate and raise awareness of human rights violations in the Asian South Eastern states. In particular, he elaborated on the difficulties of establishing an inter-parliamentary assembly with consultative powers within ASEAN, given that member states insist on the principle of non-interference in domestic affairs.

The second session on lessons-learned from regional parliaments and organizations was opened and facilitated by Margareta Cederfelt, member of parliament from Sweden, Chair of PGA’s International Council and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). As an introduction, Mrs. Cederfelt briefly explained the mandate of the OSCE which consists of 57 participating states from Canada to Mongolia.

Among other things, the panelists discussed the added benefits of regional parliaments and the challenges that arise from working in both regional and national parliament at the same time. According to Felipe Michelini, a former member of parliament from Uruguay and of the Latin-American Parliament, it was PGA and not regional parliaments that helped mobilize legislators so that Latin-American countries would join the International Criminal Court despite pressure from the US against doing so.

The Vice-President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), Bernadette Lahai, shared her experiences in the African parliamentary body and as a member of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, a transregional parliamentary body created to democratize the framework of development cooperation. She discussed the structure of PAP, how members are elected and the roles they fulfill. Based on this she provided examples of the roles that a UNPA could play such as monitoring implementation processes and making recommendations to the UN General Assembly. She suggested that the preparations for the creation of a new parliamentary body at the UN would benefit from studying the powers and operations of existing international parliamentary bodies.

The second session ended with remarks from Niels Blokker, a Professor at Leiden University and former Deputy Legal Advisor at the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who presented his research on different types of international parliamentary bodies. With regard to a UNPA he raised questions such as whether each state should have the same number of MPs or if it should vary by population size or whether or not the body should have budgetary or legislative powers.

The event was concluded by Mr. Schrijver and David Donat Cattin, Secretary General of PGA. As PGA’s summary of the event points out, they highlighted “the necessity of parliamentary representation in the form of a decision-making or advisory body to the UN.” At the same time, they emphasized the importance of further examining existing methods and their effectiveness. Participants were called upon to engage with this topic at the national and international levels, in particular, to determine which existing models of regional parliamentary bodies may serve as inspiration for a UNPA.

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This report is based on PGA's summary that was published here.

Top image: The Roundtable in The Hague by PGA

Fresh call on German UN policy to support a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

A catalogue of demands on German UN policy with ten priorities presented by the German United Nations Association on the occasion of the upcoming federal elections on 24 September 2017 includes support for a UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA).

The first point in the catalogue that was approved by the board of the German UN association deals with UN reform. The document explains that Germany should lead by setting a good example and support "the global common good" and an international order "in which the United Nations take centre stage."

As a top priority a reform of the Security Council should be further pursued according to the document. Germany's main goal should be to achieve "an adequate representation of all world regions." The catalogue identifies additional "important reform measures," in particular "the possibility that non-permanent members may be re-elected," "a reform of the working methods and more transparency in the Security Council and the UN's other main bodies" as well as "a Parliamentary Assembly."

"For a long time the project of creating a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations has been a demand of UNA-Germany directed at German UN policy. We want the federal government and the parliament to take action in this matter," commented the association's chairman and former member of parliament Detlef Dzembritzki.

Lawmaker Jürgen Klimke of chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party CDU, vice-chairman of DGVN and a member of the German parliament's subcommittee on UN affairs, said that the United Nations and the multilateral order "are strongly under pressure." "At this time it is important to do everything possible to strengthen the world organization, to make it more transparent and to bring it closer to the citizens. A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is an important step to achieve this. The German parliament and the government should support the project," he stated.

In a resolution adopted in October 2015 with the votes of the governing coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD, the German parliament called on the government to examine the establishment of a UNPA. "As far as we can tell the German foreign ministry hasn't presented any serious study so far," said the coordinator of the international campaign for a UNPA, Andreas Bummel.

Before he was appointed as German foreign minister in January this year, Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) repeatedly spoke out in favor of a UNPA, most recently in April 2016 on the occasion of an event in Halle.

Top image: Detlef Dzembritzki opens a conference in Berlin, DGVN

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9 March 2016: German parliament urges the government to examine a UN Parliamentary Assembly

16 December 2013: New German government urged to develop proposals for a UN Parliamentary Assembly