Simpol's policy content will, when the time comes, be developed by citizens via processes to be hosted by each national Simpol organisation, and overseen by the International Simultaneous Policy Organisation. These processes would be launched only once sufficient support in principle for Simpol is first forthcoming from politicians around the world.

Should that point be reached, these policy development processes will allow supporters in each country to design, propose and refine Simpol's policies. For this, they may draw on proposals from NGOs, politicians, think-tanks or on those provided by their own chosen experts.

This would be followed by an international negotiation to arrive at a final set of measures to be implemented by nations globally and simultaneously. Prior to implementation, citizens in democratic countries would be invited to confirm their agreement.

In that way Simpol's policy content remains

• Flexible: The policies would remain open to revision at all times until the point of implementation so ensuring they are fully appropriate for then-prevailing world conditions
• Democratic: Supporters joining the campaign after the launch of the policy development process would still have the opportunity to contribute until final policies had been internationally negotiated and agreed.

Simpol is also globally inclusive. Not only will it allow citizens in democratic countries to participate in developing policy, the governments of non-democratic nations would, at the appropriate point, be invited to participate in international negotiations to reach a final agreement.

Because policy development would only commence if sufficient support from politicians were forthcoming, politicians who sign the Simpol Pledge at this stage only offer their support to the campaign in principle. Should the process for developing Simpol's policy content eventually commence and result in any international agreement, and had you decided to sign the Pledge now, you as a politician would be asked to re-confirm your support prior to voting in parliament to implement those policies.

Thus, not only is your support for Simpol given only in principle at this stage, Simpol's policy development, when it occurs, would remain open, democratic and flexible at all times until implementation and you would be asked, at that point, to re-confirm your support. This means you can sign the Pledge without risk, and without coming into any conflict with your party's present policies.

To ensure Simpol only includes policies that genuinely require simultaneous implementation, the process incorporates a unique criterion for excluding policies which nations can implement unilaterally. In this way, Simpol achieves a healthy subsidiarity between the global level and the national level, so safe-guarding national sovereignty. This criterion is expressed in the following question:

Would the unilateral implementation of the policy by a single nation (or by a restricted group of nations) be likely to cause it a significant competitive disadvantage?

If the answer is:

• No: the policy does not qualify for inclusion in Simpol because it could be implemented by any nation (or restricted group of nations) alone.
• Yes: the policy qualifies for inclusion in Simpol.

In this way, only appropriate policies are included while the national sovereignty of all nations is maintained. By signing the Simpol Pledge you are therefore promoting your nation's interest to cooperate to solve global problems while still protecting its right to self-determination on all issues that do not require a global approach.

The process of Simpol's policy development would only commence once there is sufficient political support for Simpol around the world. The process, if and when it starts, will occur in two stages; the first to include the differing perspectives and priorities of supporters in each nation; the second, the international negotiation of a final set of policies which supporters and all governments can agree to, and implement.

• Stage 1 would commence only once Simpol had gathered sufficient in principle support from politicians around the world to make policy-making worthwhile. At that point, national Simpol organisations would launch their own national policy development processes. In this way, national perspectives and priorities can be taken into account.
• Stage 2 would only commence once international support for Simpol had become widespread and the possibility of implementation was approaching. The details of this international negotiation cannot be fully predicted at this stage. But it is anticipated that, for democratic countries, representatives from both national governments and their respective national Simpol organisations would be involved, side-by-side. Also involved would be the governments of non-democratic nations.

The details of these stages will become clearer as the process evolves and grows. In the meantime, Simpol needs YOUR Pledge to move the process forward!