President Boldrini speech - Conference of Speakers of the G7 Member States
Dear colleagues, I am very pleased to be here today. Despite the fact that I am a newcomer to the Speakers' G7 Conference, there are familiar faces in this room. Some of you - Norbert, Claude - have become friends, whom I share the belief in a united, stronger Europe with. It is a pleasure to see those I know again and to meet the others for the first time.
I am also the only woman in the group, which means female representation among the G7 Speakers is less than 15% of the total, though we are 50% of the population. We therefore have a long way to go before we achieve gender equality!
I became involved in politics after twenty-five years with the United Nations, working for FAO, WFP and UNHCR. Over this period, I undertook missions to the world's trouble spots, from the Balkans to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Sudan, and I served for fifteen years as the UNHCR spokesperson for South-East Europe, where I witnessed the increasing numbers of migrants and refugees landing on the Italian, Greek and Maltese shores.
Upon my election as Speaker - on my second day in parliament, believe it or not! - I pledged not to abandon my commitment to international affairs as well as to migration, and to include a strong focus on these issues in my work. I strongly believe that in today's world, characterised by conflict, human rights abuses and the movement of millions of refugees, as well as by other pressing issues such as the threat of irreversible climate change, we can only address the challenges if democracy is strengthened worldwide. Real democracy - not the fake kind that was also represented a few days ago in New York at the World Speakers Conference.
Democracy cannot be exported or imposed through force. What can democratic states do to support countries which are taking the first steps towards democracy? Democracy should be built day by day and supported with care. Parliaments - where the people's representatives sit - are the best institutional actors to contribute to this process and can do so by providing their expertise and knowledge.
Capacity-building projects are essential in this context. This is the approach we are implementing at the Italian Camera dei deputati, where we have recently hosted groups of officials from the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Afghan Wolesi Jirga, who took part in workshops and briefings on parliamentary procedures. It has been a learning process for all those involved.
We have recently applied for EU funding for a so-called 'twinning' initiative, bringing together the Chamber, the French National Assembly - Claude pushed very strongly for the two bodies to work together - and the Tunisian parliament, one of the rare success stories of the Arab Spring. During one of my most recent missions abroad, I and the Speaker of the Bosnian Chamber decided to sign an agreement to support capacity-building in Bosnia-Herzogovina.
At the Chamber of Deputies, over 100 members - one out of six MPs - belong to the Five Stars Movement, a new, anti-establishment party which was only set up a few years ago. Their presence highlights the fact that parliaments are plural, vibrant institutions, where different opinions and worldviews co-exist - an important lesson for new democracies, where there is no tradition of respecting the opposition, and one which we stress in the context of capacity-building projects.
To my knowledge, Italy is the only major Western democracy where an anti-establishment party controls a significant number of seats in parliament. Our partners in the EU and here at the G7 may therefore have something to learn from us, as this kind of political movement is on the rise everywhere. I invite you to observe the way in which anti-establishment forces act in parliament.
Delegations from the Chamber of Deputies are also active members of parliamentary assemblies, from the Council of Europe to the OSCE, NATO and the Union for the Mediterranean, where EU parliamentarians interact with elected representatives from North Africa and the Middle East. I believe these are unique fora, where MPs are able to engage in dialogue with their peers from countries whose governments may not see eye to eye with ours.
Participation in regional or international parliamentary assemblies also enables MPs to compare their respective experiences - and to realise how much, as elected officials, we all have in common. Some of the challenges we have to deal with in Italy, convinced that our experience is somehow unique or particularly serious, are actually widespread - increasing voter apathy and declining turnout rates, especially among the youth, corruption, the awareness that decision-making power no longer resides at the national level, a tendency for the balance of power to tip towards the executive, which seeks to control the parliamentary agenda.
The role of organisations such as the IPU is invaluable in this context, as they enable Speakers, MPs and parliamentary staff to compare responses to these challenges and exchange good practices.
The crucial element which is cited most often in reference to parliamentary diplomacy is the greater freedom which MPs and Speakers have in dealing with their counterparts compared to governments. MPs who are not part of the governing majority are also able to develop relations with parliaments abroad, whereas the opposition generally has a limited say in shaping a country's foreign policy. Following the crisis in Ukraine, dialogue with Russia, for instance, is probably currently more developed at the parliamentary, rather than governmental, level in some countries - both Italy and France, which implement EU sanctions against the Russian Federation, have reactivated their respective inter-parliamentary cooperation groups with the Duma.
However, the fact that parliamentarians are less constrained than cabinet members is not always positive. Speaking of Russia, I - and a number of other Speakers - have had to deal with members of parliament, mainly from the opposition, who have travelled or intend to travel to Crimea to express their support for the sham referendum in the peninsula and for Russia's annexation. Some Italian parliamentarians have also visited Pyongyang, where they have been hosted by the regime at military parades. There is unfortunately not much we, as democratic Speakers, can do to stop MPs from showing support for regimes our country opposes or for blatant violations of international law.
Parliamentary diplomacy is now being implemented in innovative ways, including by making use of the Internet, which can increase democratic participation and spread democratic ideas. The Italian Chamber of Deputies has recently approved a Charter on Internet Rights drafted by MPs and high-level experts, which aims to promote the use of the Internet to strengthen democratic processes. In a few weeks' time, Claude and I will sign a joint declaration in Paris which summarises the outputs of our respective ad hoc committees on Internet rights. I hope other parliaments will focus on this topic and am happy to share the Charter we have produced with you. I also hope you will sign the declaration.
Italy's two Chambers can also count on a rather unique form of parliamentary diplomacy - our electoral law allows for all registered Italian citizens who live abroad to vote for their representatives in parliament. Over four and a half million Italians who live across the world thus have the right to elect MPs who often have dual nationalities and roots in at least two countries. Other countries have similar systems - three of Tunisia's MPs, for instance, are elected in Italy - highlighting the key role diasporas can play in shaping and supporting parliamentary diplomacy.
Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom - four of out the seven countries represented here today - are also members of the European Union. As such, our respective states' foreign policies - including the contribution made by our Parliaments - share common principles and values. I believe that, in a globalised world, where medium-sized countries have limited weight, Europe should have a real common foreign policy. Our twenty-eight Parliaments and the European Parliament could contribute to this objective by, inter alia, coordinating their activities vis-à-vis third countries to a much greater extent.
I therefore look forward to hearing your thoughts about this issue. Thank you for the attention.
President Boldrini speech - Conference of Speakers of the G7 Member States
Dear colleagues, I am very pleased to be here today. Despite the fact that I am a newcomer to the Speakers' G7 Conference, there are familiar faces in this room. Some of you - Norbert, Claude - have become friends, whom I share the belief in a united, stronger Europe with. It is a pleasure to see those I know again and to meet the others for the first time.
I am also the only woman in the group, which means female representation among the G7 Speakers is less than 15% of the total, though we are 50% of the population. We therefore have a long way to go before we achieve gender equality!
I became involved in politics after twenty-five years with the United Nations, working for FAO, WFP and UNHCR. Over this period, I undertook missions to the world's trouble spots, from the Balkans to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Sudan, and I served for fifteen years as the UNHCR spokesperson for South-East Europe, where I witnessed the increasing numbers of migrants and refugees landing on the Italian, Greek and Maltese shores.
Upon my election as Speaker - on my second day in parliament, believe it or not! - I pledged not to abandon my commitment to international affairs as well as to migration, and to include a strong focus on these issues in my work. I strongly believe that in today's world, characterised by conflict, human rights abuses and the movement of millions of refugees, as well as by other pressing issues such as the threat of irreversible climate change, we can only address the challenges if democracy is strengthened worldwide. Real democracy - not the fake kind that was also represented a few days ago in New York at the World Speakers Conference.
Democracy cannot be exported or imposed through force. What can democratic states do to support countries which are taking the first steps towards democracy? Democracy should be built day by day and supported with care. Parliaments - where the people's representatives sit - are the best institutional actors to contribute to this process and can do so by providing their expertise and knowledge.
Capacity-building projects are essential in this context. This is the approach we are implementing at the Italian Camera dei deputati, where we have recently hosted groups of officials from the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Afghan Wolesi Jirga, who took part in workshops and briefings on parliamentary procedures. It has been a learning process for all those involved.
We have recently applied for EU funding for a so-called 'twinning' initiative, bringing together the Chamber, the French National Assembly - Claude pushed very strongly for the two bodies to work together - and the Tunisian parliament, one of the rare success stories of the Arab Spring. During one of my most recent missions abroad, I and the Speaker of the Bosnian Chamber decided to sign an agreement to support capacity-building in Bosnia-Herzogovina.
At the Chamber of Deputies, over 100 members - one out of six MPs - belong to the Five Stars Movement, a new, anti-establishment party which was only set up a few years ago. Their presence highlights the fact that parliaments are plural, vibrant institutions, where different opinions and worldviews co-exist - an important lesson for new democracies, where there is no tradition of respecting the opposition, and one which we stress in the context of capacity-building projects.
To my knowledge, Italy is the only major Western democracy where an anti-establishment party controls a significant number of seats in parliament. Our partners in the EU and here at the G7 may therefore have something to learn from us, as this kind of political movement is on the rise everywhere. I invite you to observe the way in which anti-establishment forces act in parliament.
Delegations from the Chamber of Deputies are also active members of parliamentary assemblies, from the Council of Europe to the OSCE, NATO and the Union for the Mediterranean, where EU parliamentarians interact with elected representatives from North Africa and the Middle East. I believe these are unique fora, where MPs are able to engage in dialogue with their peers from countries whose governments may not see eye to eye with ours.
Participation in regional or international parliamentary assemblies also enables MPs to compare their respective experiences - and to realise how much, as elected officials, we all have in common. Some of the challenges we have to deal with in Italy, convinced that our experience is somehow unique or particularly serious, are actually widespread - increasing voter apathy and declining turnout rates, especially among the youth, corruption, the awareness that decision-making power no longer resides at the national level, a tendency for the balance of power to tip towards the executive, which seeks to control the parliamentary agenda.
The role of organisations such as the IPU is invaluable in this context, as they enable Speakers, MPs and parliamentary staff to compare responses to these challenges and exchange good practices.
The crucial element which is cited most often in reference to parliamentary diplomacy is the greater freedom which MPs and Speakers have in dealing with their counterparts compared to governments. MPs who are not part of the governing majority are also able to develop relations with parliaments abroad, whereas the opposition generally has a limited say in shaping a country's foreign policy. Following the crisis in Ukraine, dialogue with Russia, for instance, is probably currently more developed at the parliamentary, rather than governmental, level in some countries - both Italy and France, which implement EU sanctions against the Russian Federation, have reactivated their respective inter-parliamentary cooperation groups with the Duma.
However, the fact that parliamentarians are less constrained than cabinet members is not always positive. Speaking of Russia, I - and a number of other Speakers - have had to deal with members of parliament, mainly from the opposition, who have travelled or intend to travel to Crimea to express their support for the sham referendum in the peninsula and for Russia's annexation. Some Italian parliamentarians have also visited Pyongyang, where they have been hosted by the regime at military parades. There is unfortunately not much we, as democratic Speakers, can do to stop MPs from showing support for regimes our country opposes or for blatant violations of international law.
Parliamentary diplomacy is now being implemented in innovative ways, including by making use of the Internet, which can increase democratic participation and spread democratic ideas. The Italian Chamber of Deputies has recently approved a Charter on Internet Rights drafted by MPs and high-level experts, which aims to promote the use of the Internet to strengthen democratic processes. In a few weeks' time, Claude and I will sign a joint declaration in Paris which summarises the outputs of our respective ad hoc committees on Internet rights. I hope other parliaments will focus on this topic and am happy to share the Charter we have produced with you. I also hope you will sign the declaration.
Italy's two Chambers can also count on a rather unique form of parliamentary diplomacy - our electoral law allows for all registered Italian citizens who live abroad to vote for their representatives in parliament. Over four and a half million Italians who live across the world thus have the right to elect MPs who often have dual nationalities and roots in at least two countries. Other countries have similar systems - three of Tunisia's MPs, for instance, are elected in Italy - highlighting the key role diasporas can play in shaping and supporting parliamentary diplomacy.
Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom - four of out the seven countries represented here today - are also members of the European Union. As such, our respective states' foreign policies - including the contribution made by our Parliaments - share common principles and values. I believe that, in a globalised world, where medium-sized countries have limited weight, Europe should have a real common foreign policy. Our twenty-eight Parliaments and the European Parliament could contribute to this objective by, inter alia, coordinating their activities vis-à-vis third countries to a much greater extent.
I therefore look forward to hearing your thoughts about this issue. Thank you for the attention.