The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, convening in Barcelona, Catalonia on 19^th and 20^th November 2009:

Recognises:

-         That everyone has the right to freedom of expression, as provided by article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and by article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;

-         That freedom of expression is commonly restricted with reference to, inter alia, the need to prevent libel, defamation, the inciting of hatred or commenting on sensitive topics such as religion or ethnicity;

-         That freedom of expression must encompass the freedom to express opinions that may be deemed by some individuals or groups to be unwanted or even hurtful since a freedom limited to expressing carefully worded opinions accepted by the majority does not constitute a right to free expression;

-         That freedom of expression is being restricted both by governments and non government actors such as, inter alia, organised crime groups, political and civil society groups and influential individuals.

And:

-         Stresses that allowing the citizens of a nation to freely express their opinions does not lead to any fiscal costs for the government of that nation and that the economic situation of a nation can therefore in no circumstances be considered an excuse for not allowing full freedom of expression to all its citizens;

-         Firmly rejects the notion that certain individuals, groups, cultures or societies are less suited to have the right to freely express their thoughts and opinions;

-         Stresses that there shall be no interference by a public authority in the exercise of these rights except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Notes:

-         With deep concern that billions of people worldwide are still being denied the fundamental right to freely express their opinions and beliefs as well as receiving unbiased information from free media;

-         With deep concern that according to the Freedom House International report of May 2009, press freedom declined in every region of the world during 2008, continuing a seventh consecutive year of overall deterioration worldwide;

-         With concern that according to the Freedom House International report of May 2009 on freedom of the press, several member states of the European Union (Italy, Romania and Bulgaria) only receive a rating of "partly free", and that this also applies to the candidate states of Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey.

Calls Upon its member parties:

-         To promote legislation that supports freedom of expression on a national, European and international level, whilst accurately monitoring the level of pluralism through the definition of appropriate guidelines and objective evaluation criteria;

-         To put forward and support measures to increase the proportion of national and European foreign aid directed towards the furthering of human rights, democracy and free media around the world;

-         To support measures to provide safe havens in Europe, inter alia, by the use of grants and stipends to persecuted authors, journalists, bloggers and other individuals putting themselves at risk by exercising their right to freely voice opinions and report on events, thus affording them the possibility of working in a safe and productive environment;

-         To support the granting of assistance by national and EU embassies, consulates and similar diplomatic missions to third country nationals being persecuted for exercising their right to free speech;

-         To apply diplomatic pressure on all governments and groups that do not respect the fundamental right of free expression.