Third, there needs to be a solid ethical framework for public officials and public services, so as to protect them against possible risk and conflict of interest pressures, and thus to protect the public at large. Last, the need was affirmed for broad, open and fair public discussion, to enable the political authorities to ensure that the general interest ultimately prevailed over sectoral demands. It is crucial for the authorities to foster open and effective consultation procedures. Delegates saw their societies as free and complex ones. They are experiencing powerful contradictory movements which can only be overcome through dialogue within society itself.
Government has to open such dialogue and help to find solutions for the years ahead.
The political authorities have the legitimacy and the responsibility to remain the central driving and decision-making force in this process.