Values for the Future: The Role of Ethics in European and Global Governance by the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE)
| Páginas | 221-236 |
221
Documentos / Documents
Values for the Future: The Role
of Ethics in European and Global
Governance by the European
Group on Ethics in Science and New
Technologies (EGE)
1. ETHICS, FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, THE RULE OF LAW AND
DEMOCRACY
The last decades have come with considerable challenges for the world
and Europe. They are of a various nature, ranging from climate change to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly noteworthy are recent trends of
democratic backsliding, authoritarian shifts and populist sways, exac-
erbated by problematic use of social media, which can be observed around
the globe, even at the heart of some of the most ambitious projects of
cooperation, solidarity and liberty, such as Europe.
Fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law, ethics and values are the
foundations and linchpin of the European project, as well as of the notion
of an international order that is not premised on grave inequalities and
Rev Der Gen H Núm. 55/2021: 221-236
* Publications Offi ce of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2021 Available at: https://
ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/fi les/research_and_innovation/ege/ec_rtd_ege-values-for-
the-future.pdf.
Members of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies-EGE:
Christiane WOOPEN (Chair), Herman NYS (Deputy Chair), Siobhán O'SULLIVAN (Deputy Chair),
Emmanuel AGIUS, Anne CAMBON-THOMSEN, Ana Sofi a CARVALHO, Eugenijus GEFENAS, Julian
KINDERLERER, Andreas KURTZ, Jonathan MONTGOMERY, Laura PALAZZANI, Barbara PRAINSACK, Carlos
Maria ROMEO CASABONA, Nils-Eric SAHLIN and Marcel Jeroen VAN DEN HOVEN.
VALUES FOR THE FUTURE: THE ROLE OF ETHICS IN EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE...
222 Rev Der Gen H Núm. 55/2021
exploitation. They provide legitimacy to the solutions that Europe and the
world develop for the problems they face. Yet, at this key juncture, respect
for human rights, fundamental values and democratic principles is at risk,
even at the heart of the European project itself. As President von der Leyen
has remarked and is summarised in her work programme, “Upholding a
strong and vibrant democracy in Europe is a question of legitimacy and trust.
Democracy is a core value of our Union, together with fundamental rights
and the rule of law. However, European democracy faces multiple challenges,
both from outside and from within.”1
Ethics cannot be disentangled from fundamental rights, democracy and
the rule of law. The values that a society holds dear refl ect what is considered
good and desirable within that society. Values designate and shape the
purpose behind our actions. As a global community, we have been working
towards harmonising sets of values. This has also resulted in the collective
international development and adoption of human rights conventions after
the tragedies of the last century. The laws of a society originate in its ethics,
turning some of the manifold societal norms into institutionally enforceable
rules on the basis of democratic agreements.
Values are baked into everything. This implies that one can neither
act, govern, manage and administrate, nor innovate, design and intervene
without them. No narrative evolves, no decisions are taken, no advice is
given, no technologies are developed without values shaping them, whether
consciously or unconsciously, explicitly or implicitly. Consciously integrating
values into policy making, policy advice and innovation means to always
be prepared and capable to articulate, critically discuss and specify one’s
value perspective. Values and ethics are no limit or obstacle to innovation
and change; they are the gist of innovation and change. They represent
the compass indicating what responsible, inclusive and sustainable ways
of future-making are. In fact, all policy making and governance, local and
global, is about efforts to fi nd shared guiding values, deliberate and come
to a common ground.
Values are not for one small group to decide in everyone else’s stead.
There is no authoritative interpretation of values. Instead they are the
outcome of dynamic debate and lived practice. Structures and mechanisms
should be in place to ensure that the negotiation of values and collective goals
is mediated through inclusive processes of democratic deliberation, with the
participation of all in the collective making of the future we would like to see
1 Commission Work Programme 2020: A Union that strives for more, p. 8
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