Motion for a resolution | Doc. 14117 | 30 June 2016

Freedom of choice and personal lifestyle

Signatories: Mr Axel E. FISCHER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Tobias BILLSTRÖM, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Elena CENTEMERO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Eleonora CIMBRO, Italy, SOC ; Ms Cristina DE PIETRO, Italy, ALDE ; Ms Nicole DURANTON, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Samvel FARMANYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Salih FIRAT, Turkey, EC ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Adele GAMBARO, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Vladyslav GOLUB, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Maria GRECEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Emine Nur GÜNAY, Turkey, EC ; Mr Ekmeleddin Mehmet İHSANOĞLU, Turkey, EC ; Mr Frank J. JENSSEN, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Ms Naira KARAPETYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhii KIRAL, Ukraine, EC ; Mr Talip KÜÇÜKCAN, Turkey, EC ; Mr Luís LEITE RAMOS, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Ms Martine MERGEN, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Killion MUNYAMA, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', EPP/CD ; Mr Jarosław OBREMSKI, Poland, EC ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Liliana PALIHOVICI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Agnieszka POMASKA, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Cezar Florin PREDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Senad ŠEPIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Krzysztof SITARSKI, Poland, EC ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Olena SOTNYK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Viktor VOVK, Ukraine, EC ; Ms Serap YAŞAR, Turkey, EC ; Mr Leonid YEMETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

All human beings are born free and entitled to unalienable rights. Among these are liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Personal happiness, however, is bound to individual beliefs, dreams and sensitivities to which no one is called upon to bring judgment or interfere with.

Despite these self-evident truths, individual conduct of life is in jeopardy in many countries as a result of public or government intervention and tutelage.

It should therefore be stated by the Parliamentary Assembly that liberty and happiness consist of individual lifestyle, personal enjoyment and consumption and as such cannot be assessed, criticised or undermined by governments or the public.

In this context, the Assembly should examine the various legal frameworks intended to influence consumers concerning their personal lifestyles or consumption habits and highlight these frameworks in a request for a remedy to improve the freedom of consumers in the Council of Europe Member States.