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It is the constituting people who are responsible historically for the constitution..
(Pettit 2012)
Our discussions took place at a Cafe at Oranienburger Str. 67, 10117 Berlin, in July/
August 2017, a house, where Alexander von Humboldt (*1769) lived from 1843 until his
death in 1859:
Nature is a republic of freedom
(Humboldt 2004) (Kosmos, Bd 1, 1845-1850)
We believe that we as European citizens are the sovereign of Europe (the EU just being a
temporal phenomenon), and not the members states. A true European democracy cannot
exist without recognising the principle of equality of all its citizens before the law.
Therefore, we seek to transform the EU into a European Republic that is based on the
belief that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The EU should
become a Parliamentary democracy in which a European Government is elected and hold
accountable to by the European Parliament.
The discussion of a new constitution has to keep in mind the long European history from
classical ancient greek cities, the roman republic, the Italian cities during the renaissance,
the English, the American, the French revolution, the socialist movement, the fight for
women rights, the Russian revolution, the international fights for independence after WW II
until the wide range of actual movements from rebel cities to autonomy in Rojava.
Regarding 1. a critique of political philosophy we closely follow the main ideas in the
republican tradition, which are:
- Freedom as non-domination
We must make sure that you have the required resources, guarding against vitiation.
And we must protect you against invasion, guarding against anyone else s domination.
- Mixed constitution
Justice requires the state to establish a proper balance between the competing claims of
citizens in the social order it establishes.
The state should be expressively egalitarian.
It is possible to be as free as a full and meaningful life requires and yet only to be as free
as your fellow citizens.
The assembly has to be responsive and electoral.
Embodying a generate-and-test methodology, it should eliminate both the false
negatives and false positives that can misdirect public policy.
The acceptability game is clearly present in the operation of private associations like a
condominium of apartment owners.
- Contestatory citizenry
This is that the citizenry control the interference of the state,...,then that interference will
not count as dominating and the state will not deprive people of freedom.
There are three distinct and important requirements: the popular control exercised has to
be suitably individualized, unconditioned and efficacious.
The people in this sense just is the state. (Pettit 2012, 2014)
Citizenry, we define in the meaning of Marcus Tullius Cicero: The polity is the task of the
people, people hereby is not any association of persons, which are randomly
conglomerate, but a federation connected by an accordance to a common law and aligned
to commonwealth. (Cicero 1979)
Let people enjoy freedom as non-domination in their relationship with one another and
they will enjoy a genuine form of justice.
Let people enjoy freedom as non-domination in their relationship with their state and
they will enjoy a demanding variety of democracy.
And let the different peoples of the world enjoy freedom as non-domination in their
relationships with one another, and with other multinational and international bodies, and
they will enjoy a proper form of sovereignty.
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Our discussions about 2. a critique of political culture (e.g. Caccia 2016: Nowadays
metropolises play a similar role as the factory during the preceding fordistic epoch) and 3.
a citique of political economy (e.g. Pettit see White 2014: Taking back the economy: the
market as a res publica") are still on the way.
Subjects of a democratic European constitution are all men living in Europe, with special
consideration of children and nature (flora and fauna)(Latour 2015). The principle of
equality encompasses all Europeans and Non-Europeans, whose living space is in
Europe.
Prosperity of the individual (right on employment, minimal and maximal wages, capital
dividend, etc.)
Justice (end of exploitation, solidarity, passive and active voting rights, etc.)
The wealth of the individual always has to be in accordance with the commonwealth
Main principles for the international policy (part of the preamble of the constitution):
Human rights are universal and not just confined to Europe or its citizens;
Unconditional respect for and support of the principles, organs, decisions (or non-
decisions!) and campaigns of the UN, especially in questions regarding
interventions and wars in other countries;
Active support of the UN Human Rights Convention (https://
www.menschenrechtserklaerung.de/) and
the International Court of Justice from the UN (https://
www.menschenrechtsabkommen.de/der-internationale-gerichtshof-1147/)
Support of the Geneva Convention for Refugees (https://
www.fluechtlingskonvention.de/text/) ;
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The following figures illustrate our proposals for the way to a European republic from the
current status, changes to be achieved in near future, medium-term future and long-term
future:
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Transforming the EU council into a European senate, making the European commission
eligible for election by the European parliament and the European senate, and eliminate
the function of a president of the council should be the next step:
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In the medium term, the Commission should be empowered with all executive rights;
and the Senate should be elected directly by the citizens according to the principle 1
Senator for each 5 million voters (at least 1 per country or region);
finally, the independent Democratic Control Agencies should be implemented;
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In the long term, the Senate will consist of representatives of regions rather than
countries, in order to push back the influence of the nation-States;
The Senate should also have fixed representatives of the Nature, of the Animals and the
Children;
The EU Constitution is intended to strengthening not only the regions but also the local
authorities, in order to delegate as much power as possible to the lower levels (radical
implementation of the subsidiarity principle);
The power of the EU Parliament should accordingly be limited to european issues as a
whole and the power of the Commission limited to general coordinating activities;
Finally, the nation States are to be completely abolished, because they are the source
of ethnic boundaries, racism and wars!
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Ideas for campaigns or EU citizens initiatives that DIEM25 could start or support:
Citizen initiatives at the EU level require: 1 million signatures in at least 5 countries within
12 months. But they should not include any changes of the Constitution or of the treaties
and only have recommendatory character!
Convening a constituent Assembly of the EU.
Respect all UN resolutions, especially in matters of peace and war.
Implement the principle of equality for all people living in the EU territory, also
foreigners, giving them also all rights related to electing and being elected.
Literature references:
US Constitution of the USA
Constitution of Germany
EU Treaty of Lisbon (current Constitution of the EU)
The Equal Vote Initiative is our proposal to move a step closer to a genuine European
Democracy by demanding that every vote during the election for the European parliament
carries the same weight, regardless of the nationality of the European citizen.
Our life is increasingly internationalized and takes place on a European scale. For many in
the Erasmus generation national boarders do not reflect their everyday reality anymore.
Their daily routines and social interactions stretch from Portugal to France, from Poland to
England, from Spain to Denmark, etc.. Until 2014 about 1Mio Erasmus-Babies have
already been born and this is just one sign of a growing European bond1. For us, as
citizens of this continent, we face more and more the dilemma between the physical space
we consider home and the space we have political power and influence on. Even for
people that do not share this sentiment, there are many political aspects that can not be
dealt with anymore on a local level, like climate and unemployment politics, but have to be
tackled on a European level.
1 https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article132514835/Es-gibt-eine-Million-Austausch-Babys.html
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Yet, In the current European Union politics is made with a focus on the national interest by
the European Council, which is lead by the national leaders. As stated by the German
constitutional court, even though many important decisions are already made on the
European level, there is no real separation of power, because the European parliament is
lacking legitimation to represent the European citizens2. As a consequence the European
parliament can not be granted the required power to constitute the legitimate legislative of
the European Union3 .
The constitutional courts fundamental criticism about the European parliament is that the
European citizens are treated unequally. Based on the nationality of the European citizen,
his/her vote carries more or less weight. However, the principle of equality is one of the
main pillars of a democratic system.
Based on the idea of Ulrike Gurot4, we propose therefore an Equal Vote Initiative in
order to establish the fundamental requirement of a democratic European Union by
demanding that every European citizens vote carries the same weight in the election for
the European parliament. This Initiative would, one the one hand, bring us closer to a
European Republic, with a separation of power and a European government with
European parties that could push topics and policies that transcend the national ones. One
the other hand, by demanding equality we gain a pro European and pro democratic
narrative, that will create a growing sentiment of a vivid European society and opens the
door to a broad coalition with other groups.
The Equal Vote Initiative can be realized in a campaign where we initiate for example a
European Citizens Initiative, a national referendum or even both.
2 http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/es20090630_2bve000208.html
3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weKiAl5zWgU&t=840s
4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weKiAl5zWgU&t=840s
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References:
Arendt, Hannah. What freedom and revolution really mean. The New England Review Vol
38 No 2, June 19, 2017
Gurot, Ulrike. Warum Europa eine Republik werden mu. Dietz Berlin 2016
Heinrich, Michael. Kritik der politische konomie. Schmetterling Verlag Stuttgart, 2005
Lefebvre, Henri. Die Revolution der Stdte. Europische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, 2014
Mart, Jos Luis, Pettit, Philip. A political philosophy in public life. Civic Republicanism in
Zapatero`s Spain. Princeton University Press, Princeton 2010
Mbembe, Achille. Kritik der schwarzen Vernunft. Suhrkamp Verlag Berlin, 2014
Latour, Bruno. Wir sind nie modern gewesen. Suhrkamp Frankfurt am Main 2015
Nanz, Patricia, Leggewie, Claus. Die Konsultative. Verlag Klaus Wagenbach Berlin, 2016
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P6 Constitution task force
Ober, Josiah. The rise and fall of classical Greece. Princeton University Press, Princeton
2015
Peter, Urs B.. Europa. Warum wir sind, was wir sind. Wagner Gelnhausen 2011
Pettit, Philip. Just freedom. W.W. Norton New York London, 2014
Pettit, Philip. Gerechte Freiheit. Suhrkamp Verlag Berlin, 2015
Pettit, Philip. On the peoples terms. Cambridge University Press, 2012
Pettit, Philip. A theory of freedom. Polity Press Cambridge, 2001
Polybios. Die Verfassung der rmischen Republik. Historien VI. Buch. Reclam Stuttgart,
1973, 2012
Rockstrm, Johan, Klum, Matthias. Big World Small Planet. Ullstein Berlin 2016
Rockstrm, Johan et al. A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461,2009: 472-475
https://www.menschenrechtserklaerung.de
https://www.menschenrechtsabkommen.de/der-internationale-gerichtshof-1147
https://www.fluechtlingskonvention.de/text
https://www.bmz.de/de/ministerium/ziele/2030_agenda/index.html
https://de.unpacampaign.org/10062/europaparlament-fordert-eu-auf-eine-debatte-ueber-
die-etablierung-einer-un-parlamentarierversammlung-anzutreiben
Authors:
Canning, Gerald
Eis, Sebastian
Esteves, Vasco
Kellermann, Thomas
Rojas, Manuel
Wall, Alexander
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