On March 10 in Naples, for the first time ever, national, regional and municipal political forces from across the continent assembled with a view to bring about change and reconstruct the European Union – bottom-up, transnationally. Here are the complete set of agreements reached during that historic day’s discussions:

Naples, March 10, 2018

1^st meeting of the Provisional Council

 
Participants:
DiEM25 (EU); DemA (Italy); Génération.s (France); LIVRE (Portugal); Razem (Poland); Alternativet (Denmark); MeRA25 (Greece); Bündnis DiEM25 (Germany)
Observers:
European Green Party (EU); European Party of the Left (EU); PCF (France); Levica (Slovenia); Nova Ljevica & Zagreb je naš (Croatia), DiB (Germany); Demos (Romania)
Co-chairs:
Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk and Lorenzo Marsili

***

AGREED CONCLUSIONS

1. Approval of the Open Call

The Open Call was approved. All partners commit to its dissemination via their own communication and press channels. The Call aims to extend membership of our Transnational List, while promoting mutually beneficial rapport, cooperation, and alliance with other transnational parties and transnational lists.
 

2. Formation of a Provisional Joint Council

The Provisional Council was officially established.
Membership of the Council is composed of two (2) representatives from each political movement on the Transnational List. In the case of national coalitions, each member party of the coalition has one (1) representative. In the case of transnational parties with affiliated national parties, each national party has one (1) representative.
From Autumn 2018 (exact date TBC), it has been agreed to include up to 20% of Council members (at the time of approval) via a random draw (sortition) among all member of all participating political movements, with full gender parity.
This arrangement is valid only through the 2019 European elections, following which the Council will be democratically elected, with stipulations for gender equality, diversity and regional representation, and with additional election of members via sortition.
The Council’s mandate is as follow:

1. To decide on our list’s pan-European name.
2. To oversee the process of developing the common Agenda, including the country-by-country program.
3. To coordinate joint communication and electoral campaign strategy.
4. To build alliances and partnerships with other transnational parties and lists.
5. To approve the addition of new allies and Council members, as well as the expulsion of existing ones.
6. To define the Spitzenkandidat process.
7. To validate electoral lists and transnational cross-listing.
8. To draft an Ethical Code.

The Council aims to take decision by consensus. When this is not possible, a vote may be called with a required qualified majority of two-thirds (2/3) Council members.
The Council will have an Ethical Code binding on all its members and candidates. A draft of the Ethical Code has been discussed, and a final version will be approved at next Council meeting.
Conclusions of Council meetings, as well as abridged minutes, are to be presented on the websites of all participating political movements.
Ahead of the next Council meetings, members will reach a consensus on how best to proceed with (i) registration as a recognized European movement fielding a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, and (ii) establishment of a foundation. Registration must be completed by May 2018.
 

3. Establishment of the Economic, Social, Cultural and Political Agenda 

Our common political program will be titled “A New Deal for Europe” and structured around a preamble, a policy overview, country-by-country policies, and annexes with full policy information. Topics of specific chapters are to be decided by the Council at the next meeting in April. A draft structure developed in Naples is as follows:

1. Preamble
2. Pan-European Green New Deal (abridged)
3. A New Deal for Our Democracies: Municipalism and autonomy, rule of law, and Constitutional Assembly Process
4. A New Deal for Migrants and Refugees
5. A New Deal for Legality: Organized crime and tax heavens
6. A New Deal for Women
7. A Post-Capitalist New Deal
8. A New Deal for Europe’s foreign policy
9. Country-by-Country policies
10. Annexes with full details of all proposals

The preamble will be drafted ahead of the next Council meeting. All partners will provide a small number of bullet points to include in the draft preamble, and a team of no more than two or three people will write the first draft for consultation to ensure an attractive prose.
The overview of the political platform will be developed by May 2018 and approved by all verified members of all political movements represented on the Council.
The country-by-country agenda and full annexes will be prepared by Autumn 2018.
The platform will remain a living document (“Linux code”) open to further additions ahead of the 2019 elections.
The creation of an Agenda Subgroup to guide this process has been agreed.
 

4. Campaign and Member Engagement

The public launch of our campaign has been agreed for June 2018. It was noted that Génération.s proposes a Paris launch on July 2, and Razem suggests holding an event in Warsaw on June 23. Dates for launch events will have to be fixed within the month of March.
The Council will continue thinking of innovative solutions for a genuine transnational campaign. Among the ideas discussed in Napoli were those of a shadow government and a transnational caravan.
Our transnational list aims to be democratic and participatory. In order to facilitate member engagement, a series of data, IT, and privacy questions will need to be solved.
 

5. Selection of Candidate and Name for Transnational Party List

Our Council will call for nominations to the post of Candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission. All members of all political movements represented on the Council are eligible to stand, provided they gather a minimum amount of endorsements (to be specified). The Council will then validate candidatures and organise transnational elections for Autumn 2018 among all verified members of all participating political movements.
Our Council will need to choose a name for our Transnational List by the next Council meeting.
 

6. Follow-up

A press release has been issued.
The next Council meeting will be organized before the end of April. A date should be fixed ASAP.  It was noted that LIVRE has suggested April 25 in Lisbon. [UPDATE: date fixed at April 26, in Lisbon).
 

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