- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on
11 May 1990 (8th Sitting) (see Doc.
6146, report of the Political Affairs Committee, Rapporteurs: MM.
Pontillon and de Puig). Text adopted by the Assembly on 11 May 1990
(8th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Having been informed of the results of the fact-finding
visit made to Andorra by four of its members from 27 to 29 April
1989 ;
2. Stressing that, for geographical, historical and cultural
reasons, Andorra is an integral part of Western Europe ;
3. Recalling that during the second world war the Andorran authorities
and population made Andorra a country of asylum, thus helping to
save many lives ;
4. Taking note of the profound changes - coupled with unprecedented
economic growth - undergone by Andorra's economic and social structures
over the past three decades ;
5. Aware of the originality and complexity of Andorra's institutions,
to which the vast majority of the population remains deeply attached
because they are a basic component of its identity ;
6. Convinced that the institutional reforms undertaken in 1981
match the population's wish for the conferment of wider powers on
the General Council of the Valleys and the Executive Council, and
hence for the gradual assertion of the sovereignty of the people
;
7. Expressing the wish that the reforms should be carried out
by mutual agreement between the co-Princes and the General Council
of the Valleys, and should mark a qualitative step forward both
in terms of the sovereignty of the people and from the standpoint
of legal certainty ;
8. Noting that the present electoral system is designed to permit
the representation of the principality's ‘‘parishes'', but does
not ensure the adequate representation of the Andorran electorate
;
9. Taking note with satisfaction of the Act on the Rights of
the Individual of 29 March 1989, which incorporates into the principality's
legal order the fundamental rights of the individual as laid downin
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of10 December 1948 ;
10. Stressing the need for the adoption of appropriate laws, in
accordance with Section 2 of the above-mentioned Act, in order to
ensure that all the rights embodied in the declaration are effectively
respected ;
11. Concerned in particular at the problems surrounding freedom
of association (political parties and trade unions) as well as labour
law and social legislation ;
12. Aware that most of these problems can gradually be solved
only through a policy of integrating foreign residents,
13. Invites the co-Princes and the General Council of the Valleys
:
13.1 to consider the usefulness
of adopting a written Constitution laying down the rights and freedoms of
citizens as defined in international treaties on the protection
of human rights, as well as submitting it for adoption by the Andorran
people in a referendum ;
13.2 to extend and broaden the institutional reforms initiated
by the decree of 15 January 1981, in the framework of that Constitution,
so as to bring about a gradual transfer of responsibilities to the
General Council of the Valleys and the Executive Council for the
purpose of making them the true parliament and government of the
principality, endowed with appropriate legislative powers ;
13.3 to reform the present electoral law in order to ensure
the adequate representation of the Andorran population ;
13.4 to ease the rules on the acquisition of Andorran nationality,
in order to secure the progressive integration of foreign residents
while preserving the principality's national identity and cultural personality ;
13.5 to implement Section 2 of the Act on the Rights of the
Individual of 29 March 1989 as soon as possible by introducing legislation
on the various civic rights, providing, in particular, for freedom
of association ;
13.6 to endeavour to bring labour law and social legislation
into line with European standards.
