Social mobilisation, social unrest and police reaction in Council of Europe member States: is there a need for a new social contract?
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 25 June 2025 (24th sitting) (see Doc. 16191, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and
Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Mr Pierre-Alain Fridez). Text adopted by the Assembly on
25 June 2025 (24th sitting).
2. It also refers to Recommendation CM/Rec(2023)6 of the Committee
of Ministers to member States on deliberative democracy and the
Roadmap towards a new democratic pact for Europe – Building a resilient, inclusive
and agile democracy, presented by the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe at the 134th Session of the Committee of Ministers (Luxembourg,
13-14 May 2025).
3. The Assembly stresses that member States need to be innovative
in their approaches in order to restore meaning and vitality to
the democratic fabric of society, by strengthening the role of parliament
and making participatory and deliberative democracy self-evident,
and public debate a living force.
4. The feeling of having a say in essential decisions that affect
them is a key component of the people’s trust in institutions and
democracy, and an in-depth dialogue between different political
persuasions in disagreement on social issues can lead to broad compromises
that help reduce social tensions.
5. A democracy based on open public debate, which fully integrates
the voices of young people and adopts horizontal governance models,
provides a safeguard against overly top-down, managerial and procedural approaches
to public decision making.
6. The Assembly observes that social mobilisation is an essential
element of democratic vitality and a bulwark against political disengagement,
often identified as one of the main causes of the democratic deficit
in contemporary societies. It believes that a relationship built
on respect and trust between institutions and young people is a
clear indicator of a vibrant and responsive democracy.
7. The growing complexity and difficulty of the tasks entrusted
to law-enforcement authorities, as well as the daily commitment
of their officers to ensuring the protection of people and property,
deserve recognition from the authorities, and from society as a
whole, commensurate with the responsibilities they bear.
8. The rapid evolution of the societal, technological and legal
contexts necessitates a constant renewal of the professional skills
of law-enforcement officers with a view to ensuring that their policies,
guidelines and responses are effective, well-tailored to the situations
encountered and respectful of the expectations and rights of all
groups in society.
9. The Assembly considers that placing dialogue and mediation
at the heart of law-enforcement management, developing strategies
that do not pit law-enforcement authorities against demonstrators
and limiting the use of intermediate weapons to a strict minimum
provide a good framework to preserve the democratic nature of the
right to protest and prevent the escalation of violence.
10. Law-enforcement authorities gain in legitimacy when they favour
a preventive approach based on knowledge of local realities and
consideration of any potential biases which might influence the
approach taken, thus going beyond purely quantitative indicators.
11. Law-enforcement identity checks perceived as discriminatory,
combined with the scaling down of community policing mechanisms,
may contribute to a loss of trust in institutions among young people
from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, making it difficult to build
a relationship of trust.
12. In view of these elements, the Assembly calls on the member
States of the Council of Europe which have not yet done so to:
12.1 draw inspiration from approaches
based on a political culture of consensus, which promote inclusive
debate in public policy making;
12.2 institutionalise forms of participatory democracy as a
complement to traditional representative mechanisms, while ensuring
that intermediary bodies play a central role;
12.3 adopt an approach to policing as a public service engaged
in a continuously evolving relationship with the public, based on
trust, accountability and the ability to question itself;
12.4 place listening, respect, communication and availability
at the heart of law-enforcement authorities’ activity and prevent
delinquency at the grassroots level by getting to know local residents and
local issues;
12.5 establish or reinforce a community-based police presence
aimed at building a relationship of trust with local residents,
particularly in disadvantaged neighbourhoods;
12.6 make long-term investments in the continuing training
and equipment of law-enforcement officers to enable them to carry
out their duties under the best possible conditions, in order to
maintain security and social cohesion;
12.7 include in law-enforcement officers’ training mandatory
modules on cognitive and discriminatory biases, crowd management
and the principles of procedural justice;
12.8 combat all forms of profiling, including ethnic profiling,
during identity checks and implement an effective system for tracking
and monitoring these checks in order to prevent any discriminatory practices,
even if unintentional;
12.9 actively promote the right to protest in a democratic
framework by prioritising de-escalation as the guiding principle
in the management of demonstrations, rather than preventive arrests,
prevention strategies and any repressive approach, and by strengthening
dialogue and mediation before, during and after demonstrations;
12.10 reconsider the use of intermediate weapons in the context
of maintaining order during demonstrations, reserving their use
for specialised and properly trained units, and initiate a review
of a possible total ban on the use of defence ball launchers in
maintaining order.
