Freedom of Association guaranteed by law for 100 years now
-Raphaelle LUCAS,
France
The law of 1st July
1901 on associations recently celebrated its centenary. Although, today, there is complete
freedom of association in France, this was not always the case. The abundance of
associations, recognized or strengthening links between people and covering an enormous
variety of areas from sport to culture and the environment, or social or humanitarian
action, is gaining favor with more and more people.
"Long live
the Republic!" some of those present called out. "Long live liberty"', the
others responded. This was in the French National Assembly on 28 June 1901. By 313 votes
to 249, the Chamber of Deputies definitively adopted the law concerning the "contract
of association", proclaimed on 1 July which extended the areas of civil liberties.
But what a tremendous struggle it was to have this liberty of associations recognized and,
a hundred years later, to have an international mission appointed to celebrate this great
progress of democracy!
The French revolution
had its share of responsibility in this delay. "Jacobian, the political vision of a
centralizing and interventionist democracy, was frankly hostile to intermediaries bodies,
accused of creating of a schism in the unity of the nation", the economist Edith
Archambault analyses in his work "La secteur sans but Lucratif", the non-profit
making sector, published by the Fondation de France. Hence, the right of associations did
not appear in the Declaration of Human Rights of 1789 and corporations were severely
suppressed. In 1791, the Chapelier law banned any spontaneous gatherings.
It was only after an
eventful history throughout 19 century, highlighted by the acknowledgement of the right to
strike and to gather together, 1864, the authorization of trade unions, 1884, and the vote
in favor of the Charter of mutual benefit insurance associations, 1898, that the law of
1901 found its place, introduced for adoption by Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, the President of
the Council (Prime Minister) who was also responsible for the law concerning trade unions.
However, religious orders, which attempts were made to weaken, remained excluded from the
right of association and were the object of specific legislation in 1905 in the framework
of the separation of the Church and the State.
More than 60,000
associations created every year: Flexibility and freedom lie at the heart of this law of
1901. Its articles confirm this:; "Association is a convention by which two or
several people pool their knowledge and their activities, in a permanent way, for a
purpose other than to share profits" and "It will be possible for associations
of people to form freely without any authorization or advance declaration". There is
practically complete freedom of creation and of operation too. After drawing up their
statutes, associations simply have to declare their existence to the Prefecture. Hence the
process of the law.
Today more than 60,000
associations are created every year in France. They employ over 1.2 million people, and
according to the CREDOC, Research Center for the study and Observation of Living
Conditions, 8 French people out of 10 are involved in associations in one way or the
other. The number of voluntary workers is on the increase by 6% a year and amounts to more
than 9 million people. Favorite areas for associations are culture, sports, leisure
activities and social action. According to the CREDOC, the 700,000 associations or so are
considered as "a spawning ground for citizenship"' for 77% and "'for
democracy" for 72%"'. From the point of view of motivation, 31% of people
explain their involvement by the need to "'wishing to do something with other
people" and 17% state that they do " the activity for themselves". So
associations do not necessarily mean militancy and self-fulfillment seems to be important.
However, the great number of associations today is also a sign of new solidarity.
Organizations offering helps to the victims of AIDS or of bomb attacks, illegal
immigrants, homeless persons, etc have also sprung up. Finally, in formal or informal
networks, associations increasingly influence state decisions. Hence, the "Alarm
campaign resulted, for instance, in a law being passed against exclusion.
A hundred years after
the law of 1901 was adopted, associations are highly popular. According to a recent
survey, 95% of French people say that they have a good opinion of them. Moreover, they
seem to have more trust in them than in the executive powers and in firms concerning
responsibility for activities such as sport, leisure, consumer defense, the fight against
racism, help for the most underprivileged, drug prevention and protection of the
environment. The public authorities also find them of increasing interest. On the occasion
of the celebration of the centenary of the law, a Charter of Reciprocal Commitments has
thus been signed between the Prime Minister -who also announced that a series of measures
would be taken in favor of associations- and the President of the Permanent Conference of
Associative Coordination. In its preamble, it declares that "the area of associations
has become a fundamental participant in the development, innovation and cohesion of
society as well as a vector of public life, thanks to the free and voluntary commitment
that it arouses.
Germany's
Asia Policy: Three goals
The Development
Minister of Federal Republic of Germany Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul introduced a new Asia
Policy during Asia-Pacific Weeks in Berlin.
-Martin Orth,
Germany
In my opinion,
our approach ought to be determined by two guidelines: A decisive response in the face of
terrorist perpetrators of violence and a strengthening of our preventive ideas on the
matter", said Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul at an event during the Asia-Pacific weeks in
Berlin. The development minister used the opportunity to again present the Federal
Ministry for Development and Cooperation's new Asia policy in the light of the terrorist
attacks on New York and Washington. "Even there ought not be a direct connection
between global disadvantage and current terrorism, there is no getting away from the fact
that poverty is a breeding-ground for extremism, civil war, and ethnic tensions",
said Wieczorek-Zeul. In the future, the German Federal Government will concentrate on
three major areas in its development cooperation work with Asia:; The reduction of
poverty, the prevention of further damage to the environment, and the promotion of the
process of democratization. This year the German Federal Government has made two billion
marks available for development cooperation with Asia.
If the Federal
Government takes seriously the goal of reducing poverty worldwide by half by the year
2015, this won't happen unless countries such as India and China are included in the
equation, Federal minister pointed out. The population of Asia has increased by a half
billion people over the last decade to more than 3.5 billion people. Of that number almost
900 million people live in absolute poverty. In southern Asia more than 500 million people
live in poverty, which is more than in all of Africa. In the western part of southern
Asia-especially in Afghanistan-the negative trend has been on the increase in the last two
decades. "With the combined strengths of the donor community and the affected
countries, this trend can be reversed," the development minister said.
"The destruction
of the environment has taken on dramatic forms in Asia. Today, Asia is one of the most
ecologically endangered regions of the world", said Wieczorek-Zeul. In the past three
decades alone it has lost its 50% forests and 50% of its fish stocks. A third of the
agricultural land has been degraded. Of Co2 emissions, 21% worldwide is accounted for in
eastern Asia and 15% in China. This means that Asia contributes significantly to global
climate change while being simultaneously affected by it. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul:
"But as the German-Chinese environmental conference at the end of the last year
showed, there are excellent starting points for a change in thinking".
Crises and conflict are
the current order of the day in much of the Asian region. In quite a number of countries
human rights are still grossly infringed." And in this regard the development
cooperation efforts must make their contribution to better government, more democracy,
participation, and a strengthening of the civil society," said the federal minister.
"Not every donor
country can be represented everywhere in the form of bilateral development
cooperation", the development minister noted. " Those who count on the principle
of equal shares for all can't shape sustainable structures". In order to increase the
significance and effectiveness of the efforts being made, German Federal Government has
set fixed focal points. The number of cooperation countries was reduced from 118 to 70. At
the same time the concentration of content has been differentiated. For Asia this means
that in the new focal point countries-Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia,
Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China- future cooperation will rest upon three
areas: In eight "partner countries"-Sri Lanka, Laos, Thailand, East Timor,
Mongolia, Kirghistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhastan-just one main area will be promoted.
"Development cooperation is the only instrument we can use to help shape societies in
our partner countries and take a lead in the dialogue. Since the events of September 11th,
this instrument has become even more valuable and important. We therefore want to, and we
will, use it even more decisively to help bring about peace, understanding, and justice-in
Asia and all over the world".
Text courtesy:
Deutschland E4 Nr.5/2001 October/November Embassy of Germany in Kathmandu, Nepal. |
