THE E-PARLIAMENT

For centuries, philosophers and poets have dreamed of a world parliament in
which democracy would replace war as a way to determine our future.  Today
for the first time, the Internet offers the opportunity to create a
democratic, accessible and transparent Earth Parliament – an E-Parliament.

The E-Parliament will link up the world's more than 20,000
democratically-elected national legislators (who represent today over 60% of
humanity) into a common decision-making body to deal with global problems.
Policy development, debate and voting will take place online.

The E-Parliament can:

- Enable humanity to act together as one on issues that concern us all,
through a common assembly made up of our directly-elected representatives.

- Hold intergovernmental institutions democratically accountable to the
public, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

- Increase support for UN funding in national parliaments, and create a
channel for new initiatives to strengthen the UN and solve global problems.

- Monitor the role of transnational corporations more effectively than any
national government can.

- Give each citizen a direct and equal voice in global decision-making.

Democratically-elected members of parliament and congress already have the
mandate to represent their constituents at the highest level.  From their
national legislatures, they already provide the funds for intergovernmental
organizations, and monitor the work of the national executive branches that
together make the major decisions in international organizations.  They
already have the power to legislate for the people of their country.  The
E-Parliament represents a natural extension of their role to deal with the
global challenges of the 21st century.

To give all citizens the chance to participate, the E-Parliament will be
linked to an E-Forum in which people (including citizens of non-democratic
countries) can register their views before each parliamentary vote.  The
E-Forum will invite participation from groups, individual voters and young
people.

  WHY IS THE E-PARLIAMENT NEEDED?

Faced with the challenges of the 21st century, our international system
simply isn't working.

Our current system of global governance includes national governments,
transnational corporations and unelected international institutions like the
UN, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.  This system is proving
unable to respond effectively to our mounting global problems.   The spread
of nuclear weapons, climate change and the global AIDS epidemic are just
three among many world-wide problems where the international response is
clearly inadequate to meet the challenge.  Each day 35,000 children die for
lack of food and simple vaccines, while each day our governments spend
another $2 billion on preparations for war.  The failure to meet global
needs and solve global problems threatens our children and our planet.

Some of the problems with our present international system are:

• The decision-making process is too slow.  To deal with a problem like
climate change we must await agreement among more than 100 national
governments, each one fiercely defending its short-term national interests.
As a result, the problems move faster than the negotiations.

• There is no adequate source of funds to meet urgent global needs.
National governments show no sign of providing resources on the scale needed
to end extreme poverty or to protect the global environment.

• The United Nations is too weak.  When close to a million Rwandans were
being murdered in cold blood, the UN failed to act.  National governments
were unwilling to send their own troops to protect the people of Rwanda, and
the UN has no rapid deployment force of its own.

• There is a steady erosion of democracy as decision-making moves to the
global level.  More and more decisions are shifting from national
governments, many of them democratically elected, to corporations and
international institutions that are not.

Indeed, some of those institutions are very far from democratic.  In the
World Bank and IMF, the richest 20% of humanity controls a majority of the
votes, and the poorest 20% has just a tiny fraction of the voting power.  In
the UN General Assembly, the Seychelles has the same voting power as India,
Iceland the same as the United States.  A single national dictator wields
the same vote as a government elected by millions of people.  Nowhere at the
global level is there an influential decision-making body made up of
democratically-elected representatives.  Few people would choose such a
system for their national or local governance, and many people would
hesitate to strengthen institutions at the global level that suffer from
such a profound democratic deficit.

The E-Parliament can help to solve these problems.  Rather than awaiting
consensus among more than 100 governments, it can adopt proposals in the
same way any parliament does: by a vote among the people's elected
representatives.  By engaging legislators directly in global issues, and
enabling them to better oversee the expenditure of funds at the global
level, it can increase support in national parliaments for funding global
needs.  The E-Parliament can be a channel for launching proposals to create
new ways to raise funds for global priorities, and to build a more effective
United Nations.  And it can bring democracy to the global level.

Beyond these goals, the E-Parliament can help achieve a deeper objective.
If people know that when they vote in national elections they are choosing
representatives not only for their national parliament but also for a common
parliamentary body at the global level, it can strengthen the sense of
global responsibility among both voters and representatives.  If in that
body every individual is equally represented regardless of their nationality
or ideology, race or religion, wealth or poverty, it can strengthen their
sense of being not only citizens of their nation, but citizens of the
planet.

HOW WILL THE E-PARLIAMENT WORK?

WEBSITE:  A virtual „Parliament Building" will be created in a style
resembling other parliament buildings.  Like other parliaments, as you move
from room to room you will pass „statues," picturing heroes of the global
struggle for democracy – from Demosthenes of ancient Athens to Aung San Su
Kyi of today's Burma, from Abraham Lincoln and William Wilberforce who
helped to end slavery, to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson
Mandela.  The building will house not only the E-Parliament, but the E-Forum
where ordinary citizens and citizen groups can register their views.  The
web address will be www.e-parl.net, since the first syllable of the word
meaning „parliament" is common to many languages.

MEMBERSHIP:  Every member of a national or regional legislature who has been
elected in fair, open and democratic elections will be automatically
entitled to be a member of the E-Parliament.  More than 60% of humanity
already has the right to vote in free, multi-candidate elections.  As soon
as China and other closed societies begin to hold open elections, the
members of their parliaments will be entitled to join.  A committee of the
E-Parliament will be responsible for monitoring elections and determining
that they are free and fair.

STRUCTURE:  The E-Parliament will function like any national parliament or
congress, with a system of committees to monitor major international
institutions, to oversee the budget, and to cover major global issues such
as environment, war prevention, human rights, poverty eradication, etc.

VOTING:  Each legislator can vote on the E-Parliament website by entering a
PIN number.  To ensure that every citizen is equally represented, the vote
of each member will be weighted according to a simple formula.  The
weighting will be determined by dividing the population of the country by
the number of elected members of parliament.  In the European Union, the
total number of legislators in each country will include their members of
both the national parliament and the European Parliament.  Citizens can go
to the website and see how their representatives have voted.

DECISIONS:  The E-Parliament, like many parliaments, can make decisions in
three ways: through non-binding resolutions, through budgets, and through
proposed legislation which requires action by national parliaments for its
implementation.  In the latter case, legislation will only bind a country
once the national parliament has ratified it, and in some cases only when a
set minimum number of countries have ratified.  In this way, no nation can
be forced into an action it considers unacceptable.

MONITORING:  The E-Parliament can establish committees to oversee not only
intergovernmental institutions, but national compliance with existing UN
conventions, such as the Biodiversity Convention or the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.  It can also monitor the role of transnational
corporations, and propose steps toward a safe framework of rules for
international economic competition, in which the environment and human
rights are protected.  Monitoring committees can issue reports to all
members of parliament.

FUNDS:  Funds from the E-Parliament's budget will be devoted to global
public goods, including meeting the needs of the poorest citizens,
preventing armed conflict, protecting the global environment and promoting
democracy and human rights.  In all these areas, our current international
system has failed to generate funding on the scale needed.  Funds for the
budget may be provided by national parliaments, from individuals or from
agreed common revenue sources.  Common revenue sources might include a levy
approved by national parliaments on carbon emissions or currency transfers.
Some parliaments may allow taxpayers, if they wish, to devote perhaps 1% of
their taxes to the E-Parliament.

HOW WILL THE E-FORUM WORK?

THE ROLE OF CITIZEN MOVEMENTS:  Civil society will play a crucial role in
the E-Parliament, both in encouraging legislators to take part, and in
developing proposals and initiatives for consideration by the E-Parliament.
If legislators hear from their constituents that the voters want to be
represented on critical global issues as well as national issues, they will
participate in the E-Parliament in increasing numbers.  The E-Forum will
help to ensure maximum public participation in the E-Parliament's work from
the start.

REGISTERING YOUR OPINION:  Before decisions are brought to the E-Parliament,
citizens and citizen groups will have an opportunity to express their views
through the E-Forum.  This may take the form of voting in different
categories.  The categories might include: citizen groups recognized by the
United Nations, with each group's vote listed for all to see; voting by
people of voting age; and voting by young people under 18 years old.
Individuals could register to vote, just as they would for national
elections.  A report of how the vote broke down country by country would be
sent to all parliamentarians before the vote in the E-Parliament.

CITIZENS UNDER AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES:  Citizens of countries ruled by
dictatorships would also have the right to vote in the E-Forum.  They would
thus be able to express their views to members of the E-Parliament, even if
they cannot do so to their own leaders.

SENDING MESSAGES TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:  The E-Forum will provide an easy
way for people to send messages to their representatives.  By typing in
their postcode or the name of their representative, they will get a blank
email message window, in which they can write a letter and send it with one
click.

DEVELOPING POLICY PROPOSALS:  The E-Forum can also provide discussion and
drafting rooms where representatives of global civil society can prepare
initiatives and proposals for submission to the E-Parliament.

IS THERE PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THIS?

Opinion polls show strong public support for more democracy at the global
level.  For example, in October 2000 EarthAction commissioned a nationwide
opinion poll in the United States by the respected pollster Yankelovich
Partners.  One of the questions asked related to democratizing international
relations.  The question, and the public's response, were as follows:

An increasing number of important decisions are made in international
institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank or the World Trade
Organization.  The people making the decisions are either representatives of
national governments or employees of the international organizations.  There
have been proposals for a People's Assembly at the United Nations, directly
elected by the world's citizens, to hold those international organizations
democratically accountable to the public.  Would you favor or oppose the
creation of such a UN People's Assembly?

a.  Favor  57%
b.  Oppose  30%
c.  Don't know  13%

Even in the nation that owes more to the UN in unpaid dues than any other,
there is majority support for a democratic assembly at the global level.

  HOW CAN THE E-PARLIAMENT HELP TO SOLVE SPECIFIC GLOBAL PROBLEMS?

By its very nature, the E-Parliament helps to reduce the democratic deficit
in global decision-making.  To understand how it can help to solve other
global problems, let us take three examples.

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS:  Almost all the world's governments have signed the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child.  By doing so, they have promised
among other things to prevent the use of child soldiers, to care for
children without families, and to provide universal primary education.
These commitments are widely disregarded: there are 100 million homeless
children living on the streets of the world, millions more with no chance to
go to school, and hundreds of thousands of child soldiers.

It is already the role of legislators to monitor the work of national
governments.  Who better than a committee of the E-Parliament to monitor
compliance by national governments with their commitments under the
Convention?  The parliamentarians could issue regular reports, highlighting
cases where governments are showing blatant disregard for their treaty
commitments.  Members of the relevant national parliaments can then help to
draw attention to the reports, and press for changes in policies and
budgetary priorities.

If the E-Parliament can develop a substantial budget of its own, meeting the
needs of the poorest children would undoubtedly be one of the highest
priorities for its funds.

CLIMATE CHANGE:  While increasing floods, hurricanes and droughts claim ever
more victims, the intergovernmental negotiations on climate change are
moving painfully slowly – if they are moving at all.

Members of the E-Parliament, working together with civil society groups,
could develop a concrete proposal for a „global deal" setting a safe global
limit to greenhouse gas emissions, equitably shared among the world's
nations.  A far-reaching solution to the climate threat is much more likely
to receive majority support in the E-Parliament, than to achieve „consensus"
among all governments in the intergovernmental negotiations.  If approved by
the E-Parliament as a piece of proposed legislation, it could then be
introduced into national parliaments for implementation there.  The
parliamentarians voting on ratification at the national level will have
already been involved in shaping the agreement internationally, and
therefore may be more likely to support it.  A committee of the E-Parliament
would monitor compliance by countries that have ratified.

Of course, triggering a serious world-wide response to global warming
through the parliamentary channel is still not easy, given the vested
interests blocking the way.  But it is entirely possible that action can be
generated more quickly in this way than through the tried – and so far
failed – approach of negotiations between government executive branches.

STRENGTHENING THE UN:  National executive branches tend to be opposed to a
stronger United Nations, because they see it as a competitor for influence.
The E-Parliament could be an excellent launching-pad for specific proposals
to reform and strengthen the UN.  Indeed, if the UN fails to act, the
members of the E-Parliament have in principle the democratic mandate, and
the resources, to create new international agencies directly accountable to
them.

PROMOTING DEMOCRACY:  More than 60% of humanity now enjoy basic democratic
freedoms, though their democracies may be far from perfect.  Almost all of
Europe and Latin America, North America, much of sub-Saharan Africa and
large parts of Asia have won the right to vote in open elections.  But some
2 billion people, including 1.3 billion Chinese, are still denied the rights
that others take for granted.  In the countries still ruled by
dictatorships, brave individuals are risking their lives and their freedom
to demand democracy.

Who better than the elected representatives of the democratic world, coming
from every continent and across the political spectrum, to give strong
support to those advocates of democracy? National parliaments could
contribute funding to the E-Parliament for this purpose, thus making clear
that the funding is not intended to advance the interests of any foreign
power. With both moral and financial support, the E-Parliament could
strengthen the hands of those who have the courage to speak out for the
right to vote in countries where the government's power rests on fear.  This
is a task far better carried out by the E-Parliament than by the UN, where
dictators wield the vote and the veto, or by individual Western countries.

On these and many other issues, the E-Parliament could improve the prospects
for solving global problems.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS APPROACH TO DEMOCRATIC GLOBAL GOVERNANCE?

EASY AND SIMPLE:  The very simplicity of the idea – to link up existing
national legislators into a global body – is one of its strengths.  The
E-Parliament can start small, keep growing, and it's hard to stop. Because
the E-Parliament can be established by a group – the elected representatives
of the people – who gain influence as a result of its creation, it is likely
to win considerable support.

HARD TO CORRUPT OR TAKE OVER:  Because of the large number of
representatives involved – more than 20,000 – the E-Parliament will be much
more difficult to corrupt than smaller national parliaments.  Back-room
deals will be hard to hatch.  A legislature on this scale wasn't possible
until the last year or two; with the Internet, it is quite possible.  At the
same time, the requirement for national ratification of proposed legislation
provides an important safeguard against abuse of the E-Parliament's
influence, or the „tyranny of the majority."  All deliberations and voting
will be available for all to see on the Internet, making it fully
transparent.

IMMEDIATELY HELPS BRING GLOBALIZATION UNDER DEMOCRATIC CONTROL:  One of the
key problems with globalization has been the lack of accountability.  Now
there can be a global institution accountable to the people and easily
accessible to civil society.  It is an institution where the global South
will be fairly represented, unlike the World Bank or the IMF.

E-PARLIAMENT TIMELINE

STAGE 1: PREPARE

- Raise funds

- Create Organizing Committee of legislators, with Expert Group of advisors,
to develop structure, rules of procedure, website design, etc.

- Create high-level council of supporters, with celebrities, former
political leaders, etc.

- Create and begin to implement strategy for media coverage, polling public
support and mobilizing support from civil society.

- Launch informal working groups on initiatives to bring to the
E-Parliament, e.g. on revision of UN Charter, children's rights, global
climate change, finance for global needs, promotion of democracy, AIDS.

- Create initial website and database of legislators.

STAGE II: LAUNCH

- Media launch.

- Major recruitment drive for participation by legislators, using meetings,
speaking tours, peer recruiting, media, Internet and encouragement from
civil society groups.

- First round of votes on structure and rules of procedure, then election of
Speaker, committee membership, etc.

- Continue informal working groups to develop new initiatives.

STAGE III: E-PARLIAMENT AT WORK

- Members debate and vote on first resolutions.

- Oversight committees on UN, WTO, World Bank etc. begin work.

- Seek funds from parliaments, and from new and innovative sources, for
E-Parliament to appropriate towards global public goods.

- Work to double number of participating legislators every year for first 5
years, and work to create channels whereby decisions in the E-Parliament can
be brought to national legislatures for consideration.

- Work to build participation of civil society groups and the public in the
E-Folrum, including citizens from non-democratic countries.

AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY

Two recent developments combine to create a new opportunity to build a more
democratic, just and secure world.  The first is the growing power of
international citizen movements, which we have seen in the movement to ban
landmines and the creation of an International Criminal Court, among other
examples.  The second is the transformation being wrought by the Internet.

Using the Internet, we can take democracy to the global level.  With
democracy, the opportunities for world civil society to reshape the global
agenda will be dramatically increased.  The creation of the E-Parliament can
improve humanity's prospects for a better future.  But as our global
problems mount, time is not on our side.  We must approach the task with
real urgency.  We would be very grateful for your help in this endeavour.

For more information, contact:

Lois Barber, Executive Director, EarthAction, Amherst, USA.  Email:
amherst@earthaction.org

Nicholas Dunlop, Executive Director, EarthAction, Wye,  United Kingdom.
Email: nick@earthaction.org.uk

Sirpa Pietikäinen, Member of Parliament, Finland; Chair, Executive
Committee, World Federation of United Nations Associations.  Email:
sirpa.pietikainen@eduskunta.fi

William Ury, author and Director, Harvard Project on Preventing War.  Email:
wury@law.harvard.edu