Commissioner Nielson's Speech on Launch of MCDA Guidelines

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished speakers,

It gives me great pleasure to co-host with OCHA, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the official launch of the "Guidelines on the Use of Military and Civil Defence Assets to Support United Nations Humanitarian Activities in Complex Emergencies".

I would like to take this opportunity to compliment OCHA under Mr. Oshima's leadership for having taken forward with such vigour and efficiency this three-year process which has culminated in the Guidelines that we are launching jointly today.

The European Union, both through the Member States and the Commission through ECHO, the European Commission Humanitarian Office have followed the process closely. Our Member States were members of the drafting committee. They were also members, together with ECHO, of the Review Committee which drafted the Guidelines which were in my view most needed and whose official release is very timely.

This is an example of the complementary roles of the Member States and the Commission in the area of humanitarian aid, a shared competence between the European Union and the Member States.

As Mr. Oshima pointed out in his introductory statement, humanitarian crises are becoming increasingly complex with many actors seeking to respond simultaneously.

Amongst these actors, we have been witnessing the emergence in humanitarian activities of "non humanitarian actors" such as those engaged in military and civil defence activities.

The nature of post-Cold-War conflicts has changed and so has the role of the military both at the EU and at the international level. Military forces are increasingly involved in peace building and peacekeeping operations and even in post-conflict stabilisation. Their involvement in humanitarian crises has sometimes led to confusion and difficulties in drawing the line between the respective roles of military and humanitarian organisations.

Humanitarian aid is, by definition, provided impartially and solely on the basis of the needs of the victims by civil organisations that are independent and neutral of the warring parties.

The use of military and civil defence assets in the delivery of humanitarian aid might lead to a dangerous blurring of roles which is detrimental to both the afflicted populations and to the security of humanitarian workers if it is not properly carried out according to agreed rules.

If the military engaged in an armed conflict are involved in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, the opponents can regard it as an act of war.

If humanitarian aid is seen as partisan, the aid itself and aid workers will become a war target and access to the victims will be denied.

This does not exclude, as Mr. Oshima has noted, that in specific and well-defined situations the military and the humanitarian side have to work side by side BUT this should be done on the basis of a proper prior understanding and respect of each other's mandates and roles. And this is what these guidelines are about!

I fully agree with Mr. Oshima when he notes that the decision to use military and civil defence assets in an emergency can impact upon the perceived neutrality and impartiality of humanitarian actors.

This is why any such decision must be carefully assessed and should be a last resort option, where there is no other comparable civilian alternative. It is also why any humanitarian operation as a whole, even when military assets are used, should remain under the overall control of the responsible humanitarian organisations.

This is why ECHO, and the Commission as a whole have always supported both politically and financially OCHA's primary co-ordination role in humanitarian emergencies.

The Commission has an interest in having an active and assertive OCHA within the UN system in order to promote and defend humanitarian principles as well as to facilitate the overall co-ordination of UN humanitarian activities in the field, particularly in complex emergencies.

ECHO and OCHA are thus natural strategic partners and allies both for the promotion of the humanitarian principles and policy and the co-ordination of the international relief efforts.

I think that we can all agree with the fact that there was an urgent and indisputable need for all actors involved in complex emergencies to have the Guidelines that we are officially launching today. The Guidelines lay down a framework for co-operation between UN humanitarian actors and civil and military assets and ensure respect of the principles governing humanitarian assistance, namely the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality.

This is why, as Commissioner responsible for Humanitarian Aid in the European Commission, I welcome the launch of the Guidelines and I decided to sponsor their launch here in Brussels to publicly express my support to the process and to seek your support, Ladies and Gentlemen, for them.

The Guidelines, as Mr. Oshima, noted are a living document subject to revision on the basis of the experienced gained. But I am personally convinced that they constitute a very good foundation which can be built upon as necessary.

Whilst the Guidelines are expressed as applying in UN humanitarian operations, they could and should be used as the basis for the use of military and civil defence assets in non-UN humanitarian operations as well. Indeed, all actors who find themselves in need of military or civil defence assets and have recourse thereto should be encouraged to apply them.

The Guidelines are also very timely so far as developments in crisis management at European level are concerned. They can provide some clear orientation for European military forces and ensure a consistency of approach in order also to avoid duplications in the future.

In this respect, let me draw your attention to Article 17 of the Treaty of the European Union dealing with the common foreign and security policy which includes the so-called Petersberg tasks and namely humanitarian and rescue tasks.

During the discussions on the future Constitutional Treaty held at the Convention chaired by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, I had the opportunity to convey my views on the need to clarify the "humanitarian component" of the Petersberg tasks. I specifically requested that the Petersberg tasks be aligned to principles set out in the Guidelines.

Furthermore, the Commission as a college presented an amendment to the effect that military resources of the Member States should only be involved in humanitarian operations on an exceptional basis, in support of humanitarian organisations and in full compliance with the principles of international humanitarian law.

The Commission did not succeed in its endeavour and the draft constitutional treaty does not include this amendment. But there is still room for discussion in the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference that will be convened after the summer.

This having been said, I am glad that, thanks to our efforts, for the first time in the history of the European Union, the draft Constitutional Treaty includes a specific provision on humanitarian aid, a shared competence between the Member States and the Union as it is now and to which the so-called "Community method" will continue to apply. This will be the first express recognition of humanitarian aid in a European Treaty and will reinforce efforts to preserve the humanitarian space.

The game is not over yet and I will personally continue to follow this matter up. I hope that the launch of these Guidelines will contribute to raise awareness and inspire support for the work carried out by all actors involved in the drafting of the Guidelines.

I would encourage all of you present today to disseminate the Guidelines as widely as possible within your organisations.

To conclude, I would like to seize this opportunity to pay tribute to the exceptional work carried out by Mr. Kenzo Oshima as UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator during his period of office. His personal commitment to the humanitarian cause and to the need to ensure better co-ordination of all actors involved in the humanitarian enterprise have definitively contributed to alleviate the plight of the innocent victims of humanitarian emergencies.

I would therefore like to thank you very warmly and I wish you all the best in your future professional career.

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• Launch of UN Guidelines on the use of military and civil defence assets (26/6/2003)
• Commission and UN launch UN Guidelines on the Use of Military and Civil Defence Assets (25/6/2003)