30. Jan. 2009

Protokoll PACE

We have to develop democracy at trans-national and international levels


Votum in der PACE im Namen der SP-Fraktion zu e-Democracy:

THE PRESIDENT. – Thank you. I call Mr Gross, on behalf of the Socialist Group.

Mr GROSS (Switzerland). – I thank Mr Szabó for bringing this big discussion to a head. Many citizens feel alienated. We must think about how to overcome and reduce that alienation. It is never the case that no one feels alienated. We have to bring those people back.

E-democracy is a help, but as is described well in the report, it is not an alternative to representative democracy. One can say that it makes representation more representative. However, it is not the same as participatory democracy. If you want that, you have to change the constitution, so that power is better shared. You can send people e-mails, but that does not mean that they are participating. Participation means making the last decision, but for that you have to have the right in the constitution.

Often governments play a little with that, because it is a nice word and notion. However, they only want to test the views of citizens. It is a tool to find out what they are thinking. That is not participation. If you want people to participate, you must be ready to share power in a better way. I am not sure whether many people in government and in parliament really want that.

I view one element as having the biggest potential as regards electronic democracy. We have not yet dealt with that. It is a new window of opportunity. People do not believe any more in our democracies because it is only representative – that is why many countries and people are interested in participating more – but it is also because it is too national. Democracy is also a promise, as we have discussed many times when we have dealt with major reports. It is a promise of a fairer distribution of life chances and the richness of our societies.

Democracy has to be able to influence market forces. National democracies are no longer able to influence international market forces. That is why we must develop democracy at trans-national and international levels. At those levels, we cannot even think about democracy without electronic tools. That offers the biggest potential for increased participation in the next 20 years. Electronic democracy will develop when we democratize the European Union. It must have a better base, a better constitution in the real sense. There is no real constitution without the approval of the majority of the people. There cannot be approval without a discussion. You cannot imagine a European discussion without electronic means, because you cannot meet all the time everywhere, especially when you do not have a lot of money and privileges, as parliamentarians do perhaps. We need European referendums and European democracy.

We will see how much potential electronic tools have. However, that is for the next report. I am happy that Mr Szabó, Mr Greenway and I will work on that. I am happy that Mr Szabó is nodding.


Kontakt mit Andreas Gross