EU Presidency Statement - Report of the International Law Commission

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union. The acceding countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, the associated countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. Chairman,

We are delighted with the excellent quality of the work of the International Law Commission on "Responsibility of International Organizations" and we congratulate the Special Rapporteur on this item, Professor Giorgio Gaja.

It is evident that international organizations vary from one case to another. The range of their activities differs greatly, from the broad scope of the United Nations to the sectoral activities of specialised organizations and agencies. Hence, we believe the ILC should carefully consider the diversity of international organizations when adapting the articles on State responsibility to the topic of responsibility of international organizations.

Mr. Chairman,

Given the specific subject matter of our discussion today and with your consent, I would like the remainder of the statement to be continued by Mr. Kuijper.

Mr. Chairman,

Given its role as an actor and participant in the international system, the European Community (EC) naturally takes a great interest in the topic of the responsibility of international organizations and recognises that it may have particular relevance to its own activities.

The EC is often described as differing from the "classical" model of an international organization in a number of ways. Firstly, the EC is not only a forum for its Member States to settle or organize their mutual relations, but it is also an actor in its own right on the international scene. The EC is a party to many international agreements with third parties within its areas of competence. Quite often the EC concludes such agreements together with its Member States, each in accordance with its own competencies. In that case the specificity of the EC lies in the fact that the EC and the Member States each assume international responsibility with respect to their own competencies. The EC is also involved in international litigation, in particular in the context of the WTO.

Secondly, the EC is regulated by a legal order of its own, establishing a common market and organizing the legal relations between its members, their enterprises and individuals. Legislation enacted under the EC Treaty forms part of the national law of the Member States and thus is implemented by Member States' authorities and Courts. In that sense, the EC goes well beyond the normal parameters of classical international organizations as we know them. It is important that the ILC draft articles should fully reflect the institutional and legal diversity of structures that the community of states has already established.

In that respect we submit that established notions such as "regional economic integration organization", reflected in modern treaty practice, may require special consideration when dealing with substantive questions in the subsequent ILC draft articles.

Mr. Chairman,

While the EC is in many ways sui generis, it is clear that all international actors, be they states or organizations, need to recognize their international responsibility in the event of any wrongful acts. This does not exclude the possibility of taking differences into account in the course of the future work of the ILC concerning the responsibility of international organizations. Above all common-sense practical solutions are needed in order to cover a wide variety of situations, and to cover the activities of organizational structures in a range of fields.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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