The 1999 events in Seattle and the final agreement in Montreal on the relevance of the principle of precaution (related to the protocol on biodiversity) show that time is ripe for a global and consistent approach aiming at reforming the so-called "multilateral system." Different types of proposals have been made to reform this system. The Global Governance workgroup of the Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and United World aims to contribute to the debate by building a participatory network in view of submitting proposals to be discussed. It might provide a common reference to a decentralized and concrete reform process. As an intermediate step, the workgroup contributed to the preparation of the Millennium Assembly, coupled with the Millennium Summit of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2000.
Fifteen participants of the Global Governance workgroup met near Paris on June 14-15, 2000. They discussed the second version of proposals and committed to studying international regulations by sector, and their present limitations, in view of defining the basic principles. The meeting was very fertile. The final version was written during the summer of 2001, and is available below. It was widely circulated during the World Citizens Assembly (Lille, France, in December 2001).
