Lhe current citizens’ agreement on the end of life stems from the organic law of 2021, which entrusts the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESSATION) the responsibility of citizen participation around a simple idea: the decision belongs to those who have the legitimacy of the election, but the construction of decisions belongs to society as a whole. With this objective, and when it is correctly articulated with the institutions, citizen participation establishes a deliberative time and thereby a democratic continuum.
The Citizens’ Convention has already sketched out guidelines which have provoked reactions, comments and positions from outside. This is not only normal but also necessary, since it wants to be a powerful engine of public debate. But let’s not be fooled: sometimes the arguments go astray and, to challenge the substance, attack the method.
It does not seem healthy to me to contest the legitimacy of a democratic process guaranteed by the third Constitutional Assembly, a fortiori if one is oneself elected by the Republic. Why would you want to discredit the civic engagement of one hundred and eighty-four of our fellow citizens, reflecting all the diversity of our country? This even though this participation obviously does not replace Parliament, but can, on the contrary, give our representatives new points of support for their decisions.
International and independent guarantors
To put an end to bad caricatures, it is my duty, as President of the EESC, to recall a few facts and principles.
First of all, the convention is pluralistic. It is led by a governance committee comprising members of the CESE, the National Ethics Committee, the National Center for Palliative and End-of-Life Care, academics specializing in ethics and citizen participation, citizens who have already participated to such devices.
The convention is also supervised by a college of international and independent guarantors, which citizens can call on at any time, and who issue regular opinions on its progress.
The agreement is transparent. Each session welcomes observers, researchers, experts and practitioners, from France and elsewhere. All content, hearings and plenary debates are freely accessible and viewable on an allocated website. I invite everyone to go there and measure for themselves the plurality of people interviewed, the quality of the exchanges and the respectful listening of citizens to each other.
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