European Region of the Humanist International

 

 

Position About The European Constitution

Humanists recognise Europe as the legacy of many peoples and cultures who have met in this common space, and where, mixing and interacting, have allowed the advancement and amplification of the horizon of the human spirit.

Their history was a coming and going of influences, of invasions, of wars, of dark moments and also of moments of very great human and social development.

Today, in the dawn of a new world, the PRO Europeans are preparing themselves to make a jump like never before made in history. But also those ANTI Europeans with their petty interests are appearing and darkening the future.

The ANTI Europeans with their petty interests, want to reduce that which is wide and diverse, reducing our common space, Europe, to a closed place where stupid and cruel materialism, suffocates the flight of the human spirit.

The PRO Europeans bet on an open and different future, for the new and the enriching. For the mosaic of peoples and cultures. For the new Europe that is being born and projecting the future Universal Human Nation.

At this crossroads, will Europe be capable of taking the best of itself? Will it be capable of re-learning? Of uniting the will and effort and take a new leap in its history?

Today, in front of this vibrant future that opens for us, we express a promise and an aspiration.

They repudiate all forms of violence, physical, economic, racial, religious, moral and psychological and all cultural forms that empty the human being of its essence and converts it to a mere object.

They claim the necessity to fight for a just and non-violent future and we rebel in front of the tyranny of this dehumanising system, that even more than the triumphal phantasmagoria of a few, leaves millions of people in social, moral and spiritual misery.

They recognise the failure of a materialist civilisation and they make ourselves available to build a new civilisation based on the principle of the moral that says: Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

They promise, today, you and I, us, to carry and express these ideas to others.

These ideas, these words that are also a meaning. A sentiment that comes from the profound and from a sensibility that shouts loudly and roundly; Yes to an open Europe, to a Europe of cultures, to a Europe for the new times.

 

EUROPE FACING THE FUTURE

In front of Europe are presented two possible futures.

One, towards which Europe is already heading and for which great forces and interests are betting on. It is a Europe more and more closed and inhuman, where the concentration of financial, military and industrial power advances.

This model necessarily implies violence and the negation of diversity to serve the interests of the dominant nucleus.

This neo-liberal look is directed to immediate interests and is blind in front of history and the future.

Social rights and democracy are reduced, wars are fought and citizens live in daily fear of poverty, immigration, terrorism and depression.

The other future goes in the opposite direction, that of an open Europe, that recovers the most evolutionary aspects of its diverse history and becomes an active part in the advancement of the Universal Human Nation that is searching to take its first steps.

The force that is needed for this will not come from increasing this concentration, rather from decentralisation of power towards the social base.

It will come by guaranteeing a good quality of life for all people who live in its territory and not by abandoning them into the hands of private interests.

It will come from the respect of minorities and the compliance to human rights and not from the exclusion and discrimination of others based on their origins, religion, condition or sexual orientation, etc.

The force will come from the opening and cooperation with all people and not from military aggression or from the cheating and false solidarity of assistance given to the disfavoured.

What will be the future of Europe? It depends on us and this choice becomes more urgent every day.

 

PROPOSALS FOR THE EUROPE WE WANT

NO TO DISCRIMINATION
YES TO DIVERSITY AND THE EQUALITY OF RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

1. The right of immigrants to vote and be voted for in all levels of political elections.
2. Full acceptance and welcome to all persons and their families who flee from their country, whatever the motivation that pushes them to emigrate.
3. Closure of all immigrant detention centres.
4. Equality of civil rights between heterosexuals, homosexuals and transgendered people.
5. Guarantee of effective equality of rights and opportunities between men and women in the areas of work and election to public office.
6. A pension that assures the elderly and all people with special needs a good quality of life.

NO TO PRIVATISATION OF EDUCATION AND TO THE IMPOSITION OF A DOMINANT CULTURE
YES TO PUBLIC EDUCATION THAT VALUES CULTURAL DIVERSITY

1. Free and public education guaranteed for all students of Europe from the nursery up to University.
2. Make available the means to facilitate the integration of immigrant students and the conservation of their culture of origin.

NO TO ILLNESS AS A BUSINESS FOR PRIVATE COMPANIES
YES TO HEALTH AS A PRIORITY OF THE STATE

1. Free and public, quality health care for all.
2. Increased research in faculties of Medicine, pharmacology and chemistry, to stop all new developments remaining in the hands of the multinational pharmaceutical companies.
3. Creation of some publicly owned laboratories that, having benefited from the research developed in Universities, commercialise the medicines at fair prices for all the population
4. Sufficient priority given in national budgets, and in turn, the European Cohesion Fund, to the levelling of quality and health care in countries lagging behind those with more development
5. Creation of a European Health Charter for all people of Europe that guarantees free medical attention of a good quality in any European country.

NO TO CONCENTRATION OF CAPITAL AND FINANCIAL SPECULATION
YES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL BUSINESSES AND PRODUCTION

1. Increase the number of small businesses, cooperatives and companies with employee co-ownership (where the employees participate in the management of the business and the division of profits)
2. Creation of an interest-free public bank that favours the creation of new business models and which also supports the social infrastructure of hospitals, schools, parks, the streets and housing.
3. Elimination of commercial tariffs that prevent developing countries from exporting their products to Europe, making possible the stabilisation of their economies

NO TO WAR AS A MEANS TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS
YES UNCONDITIONAL PEACE AND POLITICS OF ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE

1. Progressive and proportional disarming of European countries and the political initiative to promote the disarmament of all other countries
2. Stop the sale of weapons of massive destruction and the technology used to make them
3. Include the following changes in the text of the European Constitution:
4. Express a clear rejection of war as a means of resolving international conflicts and recognise peace as a basic right for individuals and peoples
5. Use the budget of the European Armaments Agency to finance development projects in the third world and stop research into arms technology

NO TO THE DEVASTATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NAME OF PROFIT
YES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES TO GUARANTEE ENERGY, AIR, WATER AND FOOD FOR ALL PEOPLE ON THE PLANET

1. Reduction of energy consumption in all fields and the substitution of fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy, without recourse to nuclear power.
2. European push to bring about a new agreement on the reduction of green house gases, to overcome the stumbling blocks since the breakdown of the Kyoto agreement.
3. Banning of noxious substances used in industrial production and substitution of toxic and non-degradable materials with biodegradable materials.
4. Recognition of water as a public resource, non-privatizeable and the development of a programme of cleaning for rivers, lakes, seas and underground water.
5. Stimulation of organic farming and regulation of biotechnology companies.

Other Resources:

Humanist Manifesto for Europe: The Europe of Cultures, Diversity and Solidarity