The plan of reform of the Economic and Social Council, become economic, social and environmental Council by the constitutional revision of July 23rd, 2008, had as objective shown to make Council a more representative institution and more in stage with the sociological realities of the country and debates which cross it.

We are very pleased about some significant advances, notably:

• the feminization of its composition, by introducing the rule of parity,
• the place made to the young people by lowering the age in 18 years requested minimum
• limitation in two among consecutive mandates

However, the disposition aiming at constituting a group of the "young people" seems to us more debatable, when we called rather every group of representation (the farmers, the artisans, the union activists, the business managers.) to favour the access of young representatives in its breast.

As for dispositions concerning associations specifically, they are very on this side of the proposals which we carry, and raise some questions of form and of bottom.

On form first of all: why to constitute a particular group of associations and of foundations working at the protection of the environment? How to justify that this reason, certainly primordial and urgent, represents superior to her only a weight about 3 times to that, to name only some some, struggle against exclusion and precariousness, human rights protection, consumer protection, education, equality of chances, international solidarity so many other fields widely invested by associations and in which bill grants only 8 representatives?

The group of the associations with vocation has represent peculiar voice and the wealth of associative commitment in economical, social and environmental life would indeed count only 8 members plan seems to add to which some personalities described to be coming from the world of disability, of sports or of culture. But the processes of designation of these associative representatives are vague at least.

On the bottom indeed, CPCA is the authority of political representation of organised associative movement. She should therefore, in everything logic, be the authority which offers the nominations of the associative representatives within economic, social and environmental Council. It is the best guarantor of their representativeness. It is a political error that not to admit the effort of structuring of 16 coordinations representing 700 federations is more than 60 % million French associations which regrouped to form the permanent Conference of associative coordinations.

Organic bill will shortly be subjected to the committee of the laws of the National Assembly. Then it will be the implementing decrees which will give the general shade of reform. We ask since then insistently the parliamentarians and the government:

• to admit in CPCA his legitimacy to be the political representation of associative movement
• to assure each of its 16 families the possibility of participating in jobs of Council

It is only in these conditions that associations will be able to take, indeed, all their part in the civil dialogue, necessary to full exercise of a modern democracy.

Find this press release

Answer of CPCA to the plan of reform of CESE