Minutes From Practicalities Working Group Meeting

ESF European Assembly

London, Saturday 13th December 2003



1. Proposals for additional working groups within the area of practicalities:

- Buildings group: Venues & accommodation

- Logistics group: Childcare, translation, accessibility, office space

- Communications group: media, email, website

- Transport/borders/visas group: there was a group like this in Paris whose job it was to try and obtain visas for people from other countries, and also to create a solidarity fund for those travelling from Eastern Europe.



We did not discuss this for very long, but agreed that any ideas for structure or working groups would need to be decided by the full UK assembly in January. We also said that with many overlapping issues, any subgroups would need to come together regularly to work together organically.



2. Interventions/ideas about inclusiveness

Several comments were made:

- We should strive to be as inclusive as possible, particularly to encourage the involvement of people from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds. The Solidarity fund could help with this.

- We should organise in a way that is consistent with our politics. Although we live under a capitalist system and we need money, and sometimes the quickest way from A to B may seem to be to ignore our principles, we should consider creative ways of working that do not replicate the existing system. An example was given of the translation system used in Paris where people had to hand their passports in as a deposit for the very expensive radio receivers, and the fact that this excluded 'sans papiers' from the ESF. Some people were looking into the possibility of designing their own radio transmitters and receivers which could be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of hiring them, thus saving a great deal of money a nd creating a permanent resource for the movement, in addition to solving the problem of ID deposits.

- We should organise childcare for the ESF - in Paris there was no childcare at all, and no accommodation suitable for those with children.



3. Finances and Legal Identity

Most of the meeting was spent discussing this as we agreed it was the most urgent consideration.

Comments made:

- Unions and NGO's need to ask for money really soon. Many people don't know the ESF is happening yet, because of a lack of publicity around the bid.

- We need to be able to make practical proposals about the feasibility of London to the UK Assembly.

- Venues need to be booked urgently, as large venues in London are booked very far in advance.

- For the Paris Social Forum, a legal identity was set up. This took the form of a not for profit organisation. However the organisations and individuals involved had full liability for any debts incurred or accidents etc. This was not seen as a desirable situation for the UK.

- It was agreed that we would need a bank account, and that this should be from an ethical bank. There was a suggestion that we use the already existing ESF mobilisation bank account and simply change the signatories, however if we were creating a new legal identity we would need a new bank account.

- Suggestions for the type of legal identity were: an 'unincorporated association' (however this was not seen as a good idea as it would leave us with full liability), or a not for profit company with limited liability status. The latter is the model used by the Big Green Gathering, and the company they have set up has members who all own one share each and all have a say in financial decisions.

- A concern was raised that if the GLA's name was on the contract for the hire of venues but the ESF's wasn't, this would leave us vulnerable in the event of either Ken losing the election or rejoining the Labour Party.

- The man from the GLA (sorry, I didn't get his name) said that they would want to control what happened to their money, and would therefore like to see a steering committee composed of the major funders, with treasurers of 'standing', and that high tariffs should be set for affiliation to the ESF.

- There were several disagreements with this:

- One person said that there should be a financial working group, but that it should be open and have no influence on the programme.

- Another said that we have a wealth of alternative experience in the UK of creating large events such as the Big Green Gathering, J-Day (which is free), and that we should draw on that experience and the experience of the Paris people and not be beholden to the GLA and financial backers.

- Another said that the grassroots emphasis and diversity would be lost, and the politics of the ESF be wholly compromised if it were controlled by the funders, there would be no transparency or accountability and that we should not replicate the already existing system where those with the most money hold power.

- One person commented that we could eventually see a model where different sections of the movement raised money for their own parts of the conference, which would lead to a much more decentralised ESF, both in fundraising and organisation. This could be an interesting way forward; however a problem would be that some sectors e.g. Unions would have more resources that others e.g. migrant groups, and there would have to be some sharing of resources.

- There was no consensus and we agreed that the structure was a matter to be discussed by the whole UK assembly in January.



- We agreed to appoint 5 people to investigate (only) setting up a new legal identity. They will take appropriate legal advice on this, from both Union lawyers and an organisation called The National Council Volunteer Office, which gives free legal advice on such matters. They will report directly back to the UK assembly in January, so there is maximum transparency and any so that any decision can be taken by the whole UK assembly.

They are:

Brig Oubridge - Big Green Gathering

Maureen O'Hara - NATFE

Javier Ruiz - London Action Resource Centre / Indymedia

Phil Waite - Globalise Resistance

Phil Macleesh - Non-aligned

These people volunteered for the task, and the idea was to have people from a diversity of backgrounds.



4. Constitution of UK Assembly

- France had an affiliation/subscription system for organisations to participate in ESF Assemblies. They wrote a statement which affiliating groups had to agree with and sign. There was a sliding scale ranging from E1000 to E100 depending on the wealth of the organisation. This raised quite a lot of money.

- Several people disagreed with this on the basis that it would exclude groups who could not afford it, and possibly individuals. Also, it would not reflect that there were more ways of contributing and making a serious commitment to something than giving money e.g. volunteering to take on practical tasks, fundraising etc.

- One person commented that the groups involved in organising the Paris ESF were very much along the political parties/large Trade Unions line, with the more autonomous groups organising their own events separately, outside the process of the ESF; so the Paris ESF was organised along quite centralist/statist lines; whereas, in the UK we are trying to create a much more inclusive diverse model, where movements with entirely different cultures of organising are trying to work together for the first time, and the way the UK ESF is organised is going to have to reflect that.

- There was no consensus, and we did not have much time for discussion about this, so we agreed to take the matter to the assembly on Sunday. (It was later discussed at length on Sunday).



5. Email / Web

We collected everybody's email which is to be put on a practicalities mailing list which was set up by the Paris group last year. Everyone on the old list will be un-subscribed & asked to re-subscribe if they are still interested. The list will be open and public, and only to discuss practicalities (anyone who breaks this rule/spams/writes long political things etc will be warned twice then expelled! I don't know the address of the list yet but as soon as I do I'll put it on this list and elsewhere.



We didn't have much time to talk about a website. Patrice from the Paris group said we could use all the tools from the Paris ESF website and possibly develop them further, so we wouldn't be reinventing the wheel, and would be able to create lasting resources. Oscar Reyes agreed to put a call out for anyone who would be interested in being involved in doing the website.



6. Future Meetings

We agreed we would need to meet frequently, possibly weekly from now on, as there was so much to do. We would also need to outline what possible subgroups would be needed, and appoint people as contact points for admin, website etc.



Next meeting: Thursday 18th December. 6.30-8.30pm.

London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate St, Whitechapel, London E2. Nearest tube: Whitechapel. (behind East London Mosque).



Meeting after that: probably 6th January, time & place tba.