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of citizenship, social rights,
equality and peace »
Declaration proposed to the European Network for
Social Rights in Europe (RED)
The democracy in Europe can only be based on a double
foundation
European democracy can only rely on two foundations: the
sovereignty of its peoples and of the citizens they consist of. It
will grow from its representative local, national and European
assemblies, the only ones who have the legitimacy to elaborate,
propose and validate a Constitution of the European citizens.
The fundamental and social rights are indivisible and universal
common goods for everybody and include the right for a healthy
and sustainable environment. They have to be respected as much
by individuals as by groups and peoples.
We want a Europe where citizens participate in promoting peace,
social rights, justice, equality, freedom and openness to the
world.
- We, the citizens of Europe want a democratic Europe, a Europe
which practices the values that it pretends to defend. A true
charter of rights should be open to debate by all citizens who
affirm the principles of universality, indivisibility and
effectiveness of the civil, economic, political, social and cultural
rights of all European residents, regardless of their nationality or
origin.
This Europe must adopt all international instruments that protect
freedom and economic and social rights. It should finally create a
real democratic system that adopts whatever the parliament
legislates, the executive governs and the judicial institutions
decide. This is why it needs a real constitution that will guarantee
and safeguard its people’s rights and their freedom. Europe has
to create institutions that allow the active expression and
participation of its citizens.
- We, the citizens of Europe, want a society based on equality and
the respect for its diversity. That’s why the constitution has to go
beyond the recognition of equality between all women and men
recognizing an equality that also respects their diversity and in
particular on the professional level.
The women must be able to dispose freely of their bodies,
especially with regard to contraception and abortion which
should be free in access and cost. Sexual preferences should by
no means be a pretext for discrimination. Social equality can
only prosper in a Europe where the national and the Union’s
legislation seriously fight the endemic violence against women.
We want a Europe that guarantees the right for asylum of every
woman who has become victim of sexist violence in her country
of origin.
- We, the citizens of Europe, want a social Europe. That’s why we
reject an economic model which opposes the sustainable
development of the Union. We reject an economic model that
produces unemployment, marginalises millions of people,
considers competition and profit as its supreme values and
disregards the environment. Europe has to stop accepting the
reduction of social minima giving way to the claims of those who
intend to instrumentalise the Union for their own economic
interests. The economy has to be put in the service of a social
development. This implies the design of an economic, social and
fiscal policy which no longer contributes to institutions like the
European Central Bank who fulfil their task without any
democratic control. Europe has to recognise the need and the role
of public services which are essential for its social and territorial
cohesion and to the satisfaction of the basic needs of its citizens.
We want a social Europe based on the respect of fundamental
social rights, such as:
- The right for work, the right for a salary and the right for decent
working conditions. Particularly we oppose the imposition of
precarious and part-time-jobs.
- The right for means of existence. Every person has the right
for a minimum income defined by European standards
according to the wealth produced by the Member-State he or
she lives in.
- The right for shelter and housing. Common goods such as
water should be recognised as public services and not be left
to the market forces.
- The right for health care and the right for social protection.
- Family rights and children rights.
- The right of older people for a pension.
- The rights of the handicapped.
- The right for education.
- The right to culture.
- The right for free expression, demonstration and free
circulation.
All of the social rights have to be guaranteed on the entire
territory of the Union with the objective to improve the living
and working conditions on the basis of achieving progressively
their equality between the Member States of the Union. Each of
the social rights has to be protected legally and factually.
- We, the citizens of Europe, want a Europe open to the world. It
is our responsibility as Europeans to promote an international
system based on the globalisation of rights, equality and
solidarity. For this purpose Europe has to open up to the world
changing radically its image of a besieged fortress. The Union
has to respect everybody’s right to circulate freely and has to put
at the disposal of the citizens the necessary means to guarantee,
as soon as possible, an effective freedom of settlement.
- The citizenship of residence therefore will be the indispensable
guarantee for the social cohesion on the territory of the Union.
This implies the recognition of an equality of rights of all its
residents regardless of their nationality. From now on Europe has
to recognise the citizenship of residence to all foreigners living
on its territory and has to respect fully the right of asylum.
- The cultural identity of Europe is already a reality which should be
broadened and diversified, especially in order to avoid the
hegemony of a culture based on a dominant model. It is the
responsibility of all of us to create a public space where this
plurality of cultures which is the outstanding feature of our epoch
is reflected.
- We, the citizens of Europe, want a Europe of peace and want
that this peace should be recognised 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.
We, the citizens of Europe, raise our voice to call for full
recognition of all associations and trade unions as societal
counterparts of the Union’s institutions; because there cannot
exist democracy without the active participation of the citizens
and without the desire and the means for their participation. To
conceive civil counterparts on the European level, to promote the
representation of citizens beyond the boundaries of their national
interests should be one of the priorities of each of the Union’s
institutions and of the European civil society as a whole.
This is why we, the citizens of Europe, conscious about the
European challenges and the impact Europe already has and will
have on our every day life call on all citizens of Europe and all
organisations to mobilise in order to build a truly democratic
Europe who respects the rights and freedom of all of us.
We therefore call to undertake a collective construction process
aimed at the constitution of « Assemblies for another Europe »
based on universal and indivisible rights for the citizenship of
residence, equality, peace and democracy.
The participants of the conference have expressed their wish that
a real right to strike at European scale be integrated in the list of
the demanded social rights.
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