Brussels, 02/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - "Social Finance and Responsible Consumption: public authorities and citizens committed to social cohesion" is the theme of the 2004 Council of Europe Forum on 4-5 November in Strasbourg. Participants will include Alain Lipietz MEP (French Green), the minister-president from the French-speaking community of Belgium, Marie Arena, the Austrian minister for social security social and consumer protection, Herbert Haupt, and the Deputy Secretary General for the Council of Europe Maud de Boer-Buquicchio. A European platform for promoting ethical and solidarity initiatives with citizens' in the economy and an observatory on the dialogue between the public authorities and citizens initiatives will be launched at the forum. A press statement indicated that the Council of European and the city of Strasbourg would continue the "Strasbourg discussions" in forum fringe meetings. (Info: http://www.coe.int ).