Council of Europe Fiftieth Anniversary Conference
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COUNCIL OF EUROPE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE “Market-oriented society, democracy, citizenship and solidarity: an area of confrontation?” p r o c e e d i n g Strasbourg, 31 May-1 June 1999 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. OPENING SESSION Mrs Elisa Pozza Tasca, Member of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Italy.............................................................................................6 II. GENERAL THEME Introductory statement: Mr Jeremy Rifkin , Author of “End of Work“, President of the Foundation “Economic Trends”, USA......................... 8 Speakers: Mr Felice Scalvini, President of the European Confederation of Workers' Co-operatives, Social Co-operatives and Participativ Enterprises ........................................................................ 10 Mr John Langmore, Director for Social Policy and Development at the Unite Nations ...................................................... 12 Mr Alexandre Nikolaevich Yakovlev , Member of the Academy of Sciences, President of the Foundation "Democracy", Russia ........ 13 Debate........................................................................................................................... 14 III THEME 1 : PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND CIVIL SOCIETY: HOW CAN WE IMPROVE PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY AND ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT OF CITIZENS? Introductory statement: Mrs Susan George , Economist specialising in globalisation issues and North-South relations, Writer, USA/France ...................... 23 Speakers: Sir Sydney Chapman, Member of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public of PACE, United Kingdom......................... 25 Mr Erhard Eppler , Former Minister, Germany................................. 27 Mr Dirk Jarré , International Council on Social Welfare................... 28 Debate .......................................................................................................................... 30 3 Page IV. THEME 2 : BETWEEN A MARKET BASED AND A CARING SOCIETY: WHAT KIND OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE ECONOMY DO WE WANT? Introductory statement: Mr Riccardo Petrella , Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), Advisor at the European Commission ......................................................................................... 36 Speakers: Mrs Chiara Lubich , Doctor Honoris Causa in Sociology at the University of Lublin (Poland), Winner of the 1998 European Human Rights Prize of the Council of Europe, Italy .......................... 38 Mrs Bodil Maal , Adviser to the Women's Bank Network in Norway ............................................................................................ 40 Mr Daniel Janssen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Solvay S.A., Belgium .......................................................................... 41 Mr James Tobin , Nobel Prize Winner in Economy, USA ................ 42 Debate .......................................................................................................................... 46 Statement by Mr Roland RIES, Mayor of Strasbourg ..............................................50 V. THEME 3 : POLITICAL CULTURE AND EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY: TOWARDS A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT Introductory statement: Mr Ion Caramitru, Minister of Culture, Romania ............ 52 Speaker: Mrs Maria Nowak, President of ADIE 1 and Adviser at the World Bank, France ............................................................................ 53 Debate .......................................................................................................................... 56 1. ADIE: Assocation pour le droit à l'initiative économique (Association for the Right to Economic Initiative) 4 Page VI. Conclusions Conclusions on Theme 1 : Presentation by Mr Daniel Zielinski ............................... 69 Conclusions on Theme 2: Presentation by Mr Mikko Elo ....................................... 71 Conclusions on Theme 3 : Presentation by Mr Pier Virgilio Dastoli ....................... 73 General conclusions by Mrs Dominique Méda , Specialist in the philosophy of economy, Author of “Qu’est-ce que la richesse?, France ....... 74 DEBATE ...................................................................................................................... 80 VII. REPORTS ............................................................................................................ 91 VIII. LIST OF PARTICIPANTS .......................................................................... 159 5 I. OPENING SESSION Chair: Mrs Pozza Tasca, Member of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ( PACE). “On behalf of Lord Russell-Johnston, President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, it is both an honour and a pleasure for me to welcome a group of participants that is so representative of civil society. I would particularly like to welcome those who have come a long way, that is, from India, Americas and Africa. The conference that brings us together today is part of the celebrations to mark the 50 th anniversary of our organisation. After 50 years every institution has a duty to take stock of the past and to make plans for the future. This stocktaking is especially important in view of the Council of Europe’s lightning expansion over the past ten years. Having gradually covered half of Europe in the first forty years of its existence, a decade later it now covers almost the whole continent, with forty-one member states. It is the only pan-European organisation. The main focus of its action has not changed: promoting and upholding the rule of law, human rights and pluralist democracy. This was its raison d’être when it was set up in 1949, and remains so today. The nature of threats to democracy has changed, showing that it is still an ongoing challenge, despite the progress made in establishing democracy, emancipating citizens and making different forms of participation available to them. Democracy, which is one of the keywords for your conference, now has to contend with distortions of concepts which are theoretically part of the same ideological family. Let us take the example of free enterprise in the economic sector, the establishment of a climate conducive to business development and reduced state intervention, which ought to give rise to widespread prosperity and consequently to the emergence of various forms of freedom. Yet some of the reports to be presented at this conference deplore excesses in these developments, without necessarily challenging the principles underpinning them. We shall therefore have to discuss these issues and their impact on social cohesion and the operation of democracy. In my view, the advantage of this conference is that as well as generating debate on ideas, it highlights practical experiences presented as aspects of a policy able to reconcile competition and solidarity between individuals. It is true that we shall not be together for very long, but the preparations for the conference and the quality of its participants should make it possible to lay the ground for the development of a new society based on a fresh form of humanism. Before I finish, I wish to emphasise the role played by the Liaison Committee of NGOs enjoying Consultative Status with the Council of Europe in the preparation of this conference , and to thank all those who answered our invitation by being here today. Many thanks also to the European Movement, which contributed to discussions about the conference programme and involved its network of associations, which serves as a forum for civil society and is widely represented in the Assembly Chamber today. I also wish to express warm thanks to our partners, their contributions have made it possible to increase the media impact of the proceedings of this conference, whose objectives strike at the very heart of the future of our societies. Lastly, many thanks to the Mayor of Strasbourg, Mr Roland Ries, who took an interest in this event from the outset and enlisted the practical support of the Communauté Urbaine de Strasbourg. We shall have the pleasure of hearing his address this evening before the friendship dinner he is holding for you. I would now like to open the proceedings by calling upon Mr Rifkin to introduce the general theme.” 7 I. GENERAL THEME Chair : Mrs Elisa Pozza Tasca, Member of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations of the PACE Expert: Mr Jeremy Rifkin , Author of “End of Work“, President of the Foundation “Economic Trends”, USA Speakers: Mr Felice Scalvini, President of the European Confederation of Workers' Co- operatives, Social Co-operatives and Participative Enterprises Mr John Langmore, Director for Social Policy and Development at the United Nations Mr Alexandre Nikolaevich Yakovlev , Member of the Academy of Sciences, President of the Foundation "Democracy", Russia Moderator: Mr Paul Staes, Senator, Member of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations of the PACE and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Conference, Belgium Rapporteur: Mrs Dominique Méda , Specialist in the philosophy of economy, Author of “Qu’est-ce que la richesse?, France DEBATE Mr Rifkin spoke of the fundamental transformation the global economy was undergoing as a result of information technology: computers and biotechnology were opening up a new age. The use of sophisticated computers to study genes, for example, was the basis of biotechnology. The paradigm