Minutes of the ESF UK Organising Committee 5 February 2004
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It was agreed that the meeting would be facilitated by: Alex Gordon, RMT; Brig Oubridge, Big Green Gathering; Maureen O?Mara, NAHTFE.

It was agreed to add to the Agenda a discussion on plans for the European Assembly 5/6 March.
It was also agreed to discuss the position of political parties in the process under AOB


1. Minutes of previous meeting 29 January 2004

Agreed.

2. Progress Reports

a. Bank Account ? an account with the Co-op Bank is ready to be set up. The account needs 3 signatories to open a holding account.

Propose name of account : UK ESF Committee Agreed

Proposed signatories : Maureen O?Mara (NATFHE), Brig Oubridge (Big Green Gathering) ; Alex Gordon (RMT) Agreed

b. Email address: has been set up :  ukesfcommittee@gn.apc.org

c. Website ?

To ask the GLA to procure the design and build of a website for the UKOC Agreed

Noel Douglas volunteered to design a logo (or selection of logo?s) for the UK ESF to be presented to next meeting Agreed

d. Legal structures - proposals for legal structures will be discussed with GLA and TUC lawyers Agreed

An offer of assistance was received from the Kurdish Federation in the UK (see attached paper).

To approach sympathetic law firms and lawyers for assistance in securing visas where necessary. Agreed

e. Venue ? To look into a range of venues even where this may require different dates in order for the European Preparatory Meeting to consider options. Agreed


3. Establishment of Co-ordinating Cttee

To establish a Co-ordinating Committee to progress work between meetings of the UKOC. This body will be accountable to the UKOC and act within the framework of its decisions. Members of the Coordinating Committee must be able to commit a day a week to work on the project and may be nominated by affiliates of the UKOC. Agreed


4. Establishment of Programme Group

A new programme group will be established by the UK ESF OC. It will be open to all affiliates and its first meeting will be on 16th February 5.30pm (venue tbc). The programme group which emerged from the workshop on 12/13 December will hold a final meeting at the weekend and prepare a report for the UKOC. Agreed


5. Amendments to UK Organising Committee Affiliation Charter


Add to end of para 8 ?and all relevant activist websites and mailing lists? Agreed

Affiliation fees should start at £0. Not agreed

The name of the organising body should not be ?The UK Organising Committee? rather ?The UK Organising Assembly / Body? Not agreed

Para 8 replace first sentence with:
?The meetings of the UK Organising Committee for the ESF in London will be open, meetings of sub-committees will also be open but with the right to exclude.? Agreed

Add to para 8 ?The Organising Committee will be accountable to an open meeting of the UK Assembly at which anyone present may speak and hold the organising committee to account. This will meet at least bi-monthly and is intended to ensure that everyone in the UK movement, regardless of their organisational form or ability to pay, has the opportunity to hold the organising committee to account and that the entire movement can be involved.? Not agreed

Add to para 6 specific mention of ?refugees? to encourage refugees to participate in this ESF. Agreed

Add para 11
?All of these structures will publish their agendas and discussion documents in public well in advance of the meetings and make available minutes/reports as soon as possible afterwards subject to issues of confidentiality? Accepted


Add to para 6
?The ESF in London will only be successful if it draws in and organises this mass constituency of activists into a fighting, democratic movement. A key task of the Organising Committee, therefore, will be to promote and support local social forums and local ESF mobilising forums.? Not agreed

.

6. AOB
Agreed to discuss the meaning of the WSF Charter position on the participation of representatives of political parties at the next meeting.

Meeting closed.

Minutes of the meeting of the program group for the esf in London, 8 Feb
2004
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Present: Pete Ainsley, Camden Unison; Rachel Hodgins, Revolution; Phil
Thornhill, Campaign Against Climate Change; Chris Keene, Anti-gloablisation
Network; John Street and Julie Stolls, Babels UK; Jonathan Neale, Globalise
Resistance (minute taker); James Meadway, LSE students union; Sue Jones,
Amicus; Sheila Triggs, WILPF; Tina Becker and Anne McShane, CPGB; Dave
Timms, WDM; Sofia Roupakia, GSF; Mariangela, Manchester SF; Alun Griffiths,
Indymedia; Anna T and Sara Callaway, Global Women?s Strike; Hannah
Griffiths, FOE; David Stockton and Luke Cooper, Workers Power; Wayne
Jenkins, Cymru Europa; Daniel Cooley; Ecostruction; Alex Gordon, RMT; Mary
Fee, Letslink UK.
Apologies: Richard Hatcher, Hilary Wainwright, Louise, ken Jones.

AGREED: We decided that we had agreement that we wanted the following for
the program at the next ESF:
(1) More women speakers on the platforms, half the speakers in plenaries to
be women, and having women as chairs is no substitute.
(2) Some sort of space for youth.
(3) An open space with some sort of open mike.
(4) Fewer plenary sessions and fewer speakers at session. Some of wanted 20
sessions and a maximum of four speakers, others 30 sessions and a maximum of
6 speakers.
(5) Three hour plenaries would not be taken as given. They could be shorter.
(6) Meetings about women and women?s liberation. Some discussion as to
whether these should be on a separate day or part of the main program.
(7) The same process working in the same way for allocating seminars and
workshops. Workshops also to be centrally organised.
(8) Liase with alternative European summits and assembly of social
movements.
(9) Integrate cultural events into the program.
(10) We say ?opening the process for proposing seminars? rather than
?registration of seminars?, so people don?t get confused

NEEDS DISCUSSING: On the following we didn?t have agreement, or there was
more work to be done by the new program committee:
(1) Should the committee propose themes for the ESF to the Feb 29 UK
organising committee meeting?
(2) How do we broaden participation in the program committee?
(3) Many people are unhappy with the system of national quotas for picking
plenary speakers, but what system could replace it?
(4) We need to define the differences between plenaries, seminars workshops
and open spaces so everyone can understand it.
(5) Some people were in favour of the new committee working on the same
basis as the organising committee, based on affiliation and the right of
observers to attend, and others wanted a more open system not based on
affiliation.
(6) We need to work out a detailed system for the method by which people can
propose seminars and workshops.

We also decided that Jonathan Neale would ring round the larger
organisations to try to ensure they were well represented at the first
meeting of the new program committee.