by Jo Leinen

October 2006

The acceptability and the legitimacy of the United Nations and the international cooperation under their guidance have to be improved. The newly designated UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, pointed this out in his first speech, saying that trust among all stakeholders must be rebuilt. This should not be limited to the nations but needs to be expanded to the citizens.

The populations of the world are represented in the General Assembly only indirectly through their governments. The latter certainly vote democratically in the General Assembly, but the range between government and opposition parties as mostly existent in national parliaments is not reflected. The governance of the international system is therefore foremost a process between governments. An international representation of citizens or parliamentary control of international governmental action and international organizations as such, does not exist. In order to restore the trust of the people, to create a worldwide sense of ownership for the institution, the legitimate basis of the UN needs to be reconsidered and, ultimately widened.

Therefore, the populations of the UN member states have to be better and more directly included into the activities of the United Nations and its international organizations. They must be allowed to participate in order to prevent growing discontent, to secure acceptance and legitimacy of the United Nations and international cooperation as well as to strengthen the United Nation’s capacity to act. The establishment of a UN-Parliamentary Assembly would be a decisive step towards the introduction of a new quality, a new impetus and a stronger representation of citizens into the international system.

The development of the European Parliament (EP) is an instructive example for the further development of the UN-Parliamentary Assembly. Developing out of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, founded in 1952, the consulting function of the early European Parliament, set up in 1962, was widened to include the right to be heard in legislative processes. Since 1975, the EP has been allowed to co-decide with regard to the budget. Whereas the rights of the European Communities (EC) were enlarged further, the requirement for better democratic legitimacy at the European level was growing likewise. At the beginning, the EP consisted of representatives of national parliaments. In 1979, direct election of EP parliamentarians in the EC member States was introduced. Politically strengthened in that way, the EP rejected the draft budget of the Commission for the first time.

Today, the European Parliament has the same rights as the European Council with regard to three quarters of all legislative projects. It is securing a direct democratic connection to the populations of the European Union.

Nevertheless the EP’s struggle to become an equal player besides the Council is not yet fully achieved and it has been a long way to the current status, but only through the introduction of its direct election in 1979 the European Parliament was enabled to become a real actor on the political stage and make an impact on the course of European integration. Without denying the differences between the European project and the creation of a worldwide Parliamentary Assembly, the lesson is clear: only if we create a direct link between the citizens and the UN, we can give it a real democratic character and get people directly involved in the formulation of the UN-policies.