European Commons Assembly debuts in Brussels

Proposes new citizen-based institutions for revitalizing Europe and policy

On November 16, 2016 commoners from across Europe will gather in the European Parliament in Brussels to advocate with MEPs for commons-based policy and institution-building. The event is hosted by the Intergroup on Common Goods and Public Services, and is part of a broader 3-day program outside of Parliament which brings together European and local Brussels commoners. See the full program for November 15 to 17 here.

The decentralized network is called “European Commons Assembly” (ECA), and explains the commons, commoners, and commoning in their collectively drafted appeal. This call has been gathering signatures from hundreds of individuals and organizations in the lead up to the event, and members continue to collaborate on joint policy proposals for a variety of topics. On the 16th in Parliament they will discuss proposals for energy, democracy, and territorial commons with MEPs.

The ECA does not affiliate with specific political parties, but instead aims to unite citizens in serious participation to overcome Europe’s challenges and reinvigorate the political process for the 21st century.

Michel Bauwens, a prominent figure in the peer-to-peer and commons movement, explains:

“All over the world, a new social movement is emerging, which is challenging the “extractive” premises of the mainstream political economy and which is co-constructing the seed forms of a sustainable and solidary society. Commoners are also getting a voice, for example through the Assemblies of the Commons that are emerging in French and other cities. The time is ripe for a shoutout to the political world, through a European Assembly of the Commons’. The future is already there, ‘it is just not evenly distributed yet’. [It’s] time to know the premises of the fundamental transformation of our value regime, towards a regenerative society and economy, which honours the natural and social commons.”